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Design of a Rural Energy System Engineering Physics Problem Statement Pashane is a rural town in Zambia, populated by the Ngoni people. The town is composed of 61 households and a total population of 307 people. It is 17 km from the nearest urban centre, and has no electrical grid currently. Most of the town is involved in subsistence agriculture, with the staple crop being maize. Energy concerns have started to surface recently. The main energy use is cooking with firewood or charcoal. Women spend many hours searching for and gathering firewood throughout the day just to cook meals. Other key energy uses are lighting and communications. Typical lighting in the community consists of candles or kerosene lanterns. Villagers also need a source of energy to power small wireless radios or televisions as a way to get information from the outside world. These devices are typically powered by a motley assortment of batteries. One of the possible energy sources is solar photovoltaic cells. Photovoltaics (PV) are a technology that converts sunlight directly into electricity. Photovoltaic panels provide an independent electrical power source at the point of use, making it particularly suited to remote locations like Pashane. An array of PV panels is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: Array of photovoltaic panels. Source: ITDG Page 1 of 2 Project Scope Your assignment is to evaluate the energy needs of the village, and design a possible photovoltaic system. Approximate energy demands for several devices will be given in a separate file on WebCT. Discuss the appropriateness and practicality of PV technology in this application. Also, compare PV’s to other possible solutions like the diesel based multifunctional platform. Data on these machines will also be made available to you in a separate file on WebCT. Your design should be based on the specifications of the solar energy available, presented in Table 1. Table 1. Monthly Irradiation (Sum of Radiation over a month) Month (2004 average) Value (Wh/m2) January 148800 February 154512 March 158875 April 150690 May 161758 June 145290 July 164920 August 172143 September 181200 October 183148 November 161220 December 119598 Source: Adapted from SoDa database for place near Chipata, Zambia (soda-is.com) Provide a report to Engineers Without Borders outlining your approach to the problem, your conclusions, and any further recommendations you feel should be considered. You should organize your report into the following sections: Executive Summary Problem Identification (include Constraints and Criteria) Ethical Considerations about the Project Proposed Solution and Justification Expected Impact on the Community Conclusion and Recommendations Appendices (include Calculations) References Technical sketches or drawings Page 2 of 2