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Hardware Technology

Solar Powered Computers Planned for Rural India 184

Posted by samzenpus from the heliotropic-keyboards dept.
securitas writes "BBC Technology correspondent Ram Dutt Tripathi reports on India's Uttar Pradesh state where authorities plan to use solar energy to power computers in rural village schools. The cost to run the solar panels is anticipated to be £1,000 per school. According to the report, up to 80% of homes have no power and most government-run primary schools have no power at all. In 2003 the Uttar Pradesh state government bought '1,000 computers for selected primary schools in all 70 districts' with another 1000 to be purchased this year, 'but most of these will not work because there is no power available.' The project is similar to a solar-powered school computer lab on the Isle of Wight."
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Solar Powered Computers Planned for Rural India

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  • who would have thought... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by calculadoru ( 760076 ) <calculadoru.gmail@com> on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @09:43PM (#10197315)
    ...that it was going to be a nation as poor as India that would first try to use technology without damaging the environment? I get this nagging feeling some nations should take notice...
    • The fact that it's a "green" energy is really just a nice side effect. India is presumably doing it because it's much cheaper than trying to fix a the massive problems in their power grid.

      When we've actually take the time to focus on it, we've been able to improve technology to do a lot more stuff with the same or less amount of energy, while at the same time improving our methods of generating and storing energy. This is making distributed energy generation feasible for people who want to live off the gr

      • Re:who would have thought... (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Stephen Samuel ( 106962 ) <samuel AT bcgreen DOT com> on Thursday September 09, 2004 @02:36AM (#10198527) Homepage Journal
        The fact that it's a "green" energy is really just a nice side effect. India is presumably doing it because it's much cheaper than trying to fix a the massive problems in their power grid.

        That's why places like Indonesia had a strong cell phone culture long before it became as big in North America -- they didn't have a choice.
        It's SOOOO much easier to pop a microwave antenna and a cell tower on a pole somewhere and give everybody a cell phone than it is to run a wire to every house and end up with non-mobile service.

        The only reason why wireline phone service is (was) cheaper than cell phones is that the vast majority of the infrastructure has been in place and paid for for decades. As a (phone company manager) friend of mine once said, once you've paid for the overhead, the rest of the usage is almost pure profit".

        I can see similar effects taking place WRT 'off-grid' power production. If there's no grid to be off of, then it's a no-brainer.

        • In Kerala, the southwest state of India, everybody has cellphones.. i mean everybody, even the fishermen!!!! When I was on vacation there, I saw numerous cell phone towers on top of buildings, kids, older people, taxi drivers, fishermen, etc all have cell phones. Its much cheaper AND easier to get a mobile phone. To get a land line phone, you had to sumbit a request with your town phone company. It would take anywhere from 1-3 years for you to get approved (heh in Kerala, you can see red commie flags all ov

          • Heck, the recent Indian elections were ALL electronic.. and the U.S cant even count paper ballots (re: Florida!)

            Gee, I bet the party running the place likes that. They probably save a bunch of that GDP by being able to run their recounts at the touch of a button . . . and the right guy still wins!

            Next election will be further optimized by allowing people to remain home and have their votes automatically generated. This reduces reliance on transport, so it's green!

    • When you've got over a billion people in something 1/3 the size of the US, you can't really afford to be as careless with the environment as we are in North America.

      As a friend of mine once commented: "If everybody in China started started using Toilet Paper like we do, The Planet would run out of trees in 4 years."
      I think that that's a bit of an exageration, but it gets the point across.

      • When you've got over a billion people in something 1/3 the size of the US, you can't really afford to be as careless with the environment as we are in North America.

        Yes, this is why they take such good care of the Ganges River, well-known for its cleanliness and lack of fecal matter.

        As a friend of mine once commented: "If everybody in China started started using Toilet Paper like we do, The Planet would run out of trees in 4 years."

        On second thought, maybe you're right.

  • Wonder why 1000 pounds!? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @09:43PM (#10197317)
    According to what I know at least 80% of it will be pocketed by corrupt politicians and other 'officials'.
    That is the way things function in India.

    • Re:Wonder why 1000 pounds!? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by melkorainur ( 768297 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @10:15PM (#10197517)
      This would likely have been true in the 1990s. But today, with a substantial increase in public education standards, as well as increased cooperation with non-govermental organizations (typically populated by well educated, well meaning young individuals), corruption has been on the decrease. Here's the stats on perceived corruption index. It shows India at 2.8. 10 is squeaky clean. UK, Canada at 8.7. US at 7.5. URL is here InfoPlease [infoplease.com] I would like to see rate of reduction of corruption. Overall, from talking with acquaintenances it has been on the decrease but clearly there's substantial room for improvement.

  • Next (Score:2, Insightful)

    by xedx ( 776707 )
    is figuring out how to get them internet access

  • Sounds like the US (Score:2, Insightful)

    by CAIMLAS ( 41445 )
    This sounds like the US: lots of expensive computers bought for schools where there is no need, no practical application for them all, or even a single fucking use, as there's way too many.

    Computers are education's snake oil, and Microsoft the salesman.

    • Re:Sounds like the US (Score:5, Insightful)

      by dark404 ( 714846 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @09:55PM (#10197390)
      yeah because a computer is a resource that only has a few functions, so the schools need to have a specific use in mind before they buy them. I mean it's not like they could buy a bunch of them, and place them in some sort of "Lab" where students could use them when they needed them?

      • Re:Sounds like the US (Score:4, Insightful)

        by barzok ( 26681 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @10:05PM (#10197450)
        Except they don't just know how to use them with zero instruction. And the schools lack a curriculum for educating them in the use of the computers, or lack any practical applications of them.

        I saw this when I was volunteering at a local school about 18 months ago. We were getting donated PCs cleaned up and usable so that each classroom would have a computer. What did the teachers intend to do with them? "Oh we don't know yet, but we want the computers. We can use PowerPoint to put our lesson plans on the TV in the classroom, right?" The PCs that were already in the school that we were supplementing were all loaded with spyware, games, and other assorted crap that made the machines barely usable (or in some cases, unbootable entirely).

        I'm not expecting the school to have a specific use in mind - but at the very least, have some practical reason for laying out the time and money. You don't buy a car and then say "hmmm....now, what will I do with this thing?" - you identify a need for personal transportation, then purchase the device that helps you achieve that goal.

        • Re:Sounds like the US (Score:2, Insightful)

          by russint ( 793669 )
          Except they don't just know how to use them with zero instruction. And the schools lack a curriculum for educating them in the use of the computers, or lack any practical applications of them.

          So let them learn by them selves? Kids are great at learning and exploring new things.
          • they are much better doing so with some direction, and not a arrogant babbling teacher who doesnt want to look stupid

        • And the schools lack a curriculum for educating them in the use of the computers, or lack any practical applications of them.

          I saw this when I was volunteering at a local school about 18 months ago.

          Don't forget the cost issues. I have math, grammer, composition, and spelling textbooks that are over 50 years old and are still relevant. I don't have a usable computer that is over 10 years old. Guess which was more expensive?

          With proper teaching, I see a place for some computers in an education s

      • A computer lab would be great for these kids. It would teach them valuable word processing skills. Pens and pencils are so damn inefficient in the business world that these kids will be thrust into just as soon as they hook up some electricity to anywhere near where they live.

        We might as well give them get to work giving them solar powered Tivos while we're at it.
      • Do you remember trips to the computer "lab" as a student? It consisted of taking ten minutes to herd the class down the hall, then watching the instructor fumble with equipment that they didn't know how to use and/or didn't work while the more technically savvy students had the assignment finished already and got nothing out of it, and who walked everyone else through the task while they got nothing out of it except learning that a couple people were good with computers.

        Computers could be useful, but only

    • Re:Sounds like the US (Score:2, Informative)

      by lskziq ( 778173 )
      Ummm. There's nothing in the article about MS sponsoring this. In fact, based purely on my own experience from grade-school to grad-school, Macs make up the lion's share of computers in US public schools. But that's all besides the point: this is article is about novel power sources for schools.
    • I couldn't agree more. As an educator (in the miltary not the public school system, but similar principles apply) I have seen time and time again, instructors and students being forced to use computers to "enhance" their teaching/learning. In the end most instructors and students get fed up with all the technology that is being forced down their throats and revert back to the good old books, paper and pencils. Computers are a tool, and like any tool they have a specific place. I'm not saying that comput
      • Relifram,

        I remember seeing some education software for schools some years ago, and across the board it was rubbish.

        The UK curriculum, led by the dear leader Tony Blair is very big on kids using computers. It's the same as that Simpsons episode about the monorail - spend millions on something shiny rather than dealing with the real issues.

        I think the money spent on computers in schools would generally be better spent on more teachers, allowing class sizes to be reduced.

        What makes no sense to me is th

    • lots of expensive computers bought for schools where there is no need, no practical application for them all, or even a single fucking use, as there's way too many.

      How else are they going to train those Dell support reps?

      (and if you think they don't do this still [cnn.com] do this you haven't called Dell lately...)

  • Isle of Wight (Score:3, Funny)

    by Hatta ( 162192 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @09:47PM (#10197341) Journal
    Well, if they have enough power for Jimi Hendrix [allaboutjazz.com], shouldn't they have enough power for a computer lab?

  • Solar Power + wifi (Score:5, Interesting)

    by IoN_PuLse ( 788965 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @09:49PM (#10197353) Homepage
    Sounds like an interesting networking idea =)

  • I'm afraid I don't understand... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by The Master Control P ( 655590 ) <ejkeever@nerdshac[ ]om ['k.c' in gap]> on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @09:50PM (#10197356)
    They're buying a thousand, and now another thousand computers and showing the teachers how to use them... but most people are fortunate to have enough electric power to run a light bulb at night? Somehow the logic behind that escapes me...

    I mean, I'm all for computers for the poor, but first things first... clean water and electric power.

    • Re:I'm afraid I don't understand... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      What the fsck good is a lightbulb if you are still stuck in the third world? Hmm, a lightbulb at night (which these people have ALWAYS lived without) or my child's education. Tough one.

      Indians know they can make money doing computer work. I've seen companies in the US that were almost exclusively Indian's with visas. We also outsource a ton of stuff over there.

      I tell you right now, if my daughter was starving and I wanted a better way of life for her, I'd give up lightbulbs, sewers, shelter and whatev
      • Well, if you gave the things you list up.. your lives will be shortened by disease, because your own waste will not be piped off and you would also be exposed to the elements without that shelter.
      • What the fsck good is a lightbulb if you are still stuck in the third world?

        Being able to see at night and plug a radio into the socket included in the light fixture, just like in the rest of the world.

        Third world doesn't mean stone age, unless, of course, you don't have a lightbulb. It's the lightbulb that makes the difference.

        I've lived in the third world in houses without and without lightbulbs and with and without indoor plumbing. The inclusion of a lightbulb is a far more desirable advancment than

    • Re:I'm afraid I don't understand... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by melkorainur ( 768297 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @10:06PM (#10197457)
      > I mean, I'm all for computers for the poor, but first things first... clean water and electric power.
      If only things were that easy. You have to remember that building infrastructure is extremely capital intensive. You can only do that if you've got a good budget surplus, and that's something that the Indian government does not have because 1) low tax rate 2) poor tax enforcement quality 3) corruption. Further, very few Indian government officials are altruistic enough to care about development of rural areas [although that has changed significantly due to India's last election results]. I should note that corruption is also decreasing thanks to increasing education standards and knowledge amoung the poor. Also thanks to NGOs that work to address the issue. But there is a tonne more work to be done in that area.

      I think the main idea is to drive the demand for infrastructure by all means possible. You give these rural areas a look at computers, an idea of how they can help. You give the teachers in the rural ideas a view of the future. You let them inspire the children and the parents. The next thing you know, the infrastructure demands will increase and slowly but surely it'll get done.

      So yeah, first things first is fair enough. They're just trying a different approach to solve the problem. Drive rural demand up and these folk may just get there. You've got to remember things are not that simple when you don't have a spare billion dollars that you can throw at the problem.

      • In my opinion, education, energy and hygiene are important social indicators, and it should be impossible to drop 1 at the expense of another.

        The main puzzle I see from this report is - why solar energy?!

        Specifically, have solar energy reach the stage where it is more efficient than other energy option? (Think methane gas, natural gas)

        A report on India's energy situation in 2002 [uktradeinvest.gov.uk]
        • I think solar may be preferred because it requires zero infrastructure beyond shipping, installation, maintenance, and disposal. Also, sunlight is (so far) not something that can be bought and sold, so the intended users won't wind up beholden to someone selling fuel. Lastly, little to no day-to-day effort goes in to consuming solar power, so the user won't have to find time to do anything new other than use the electricity.

          I think what's most exciting about this sort of thing is the distribution of decent

        • "Efficiency" is a very strange comparison metric to use when one energy source has infinite, free fuel and the other does not.

          What it comes down to is that solar panels are *relatively* cheap, and come in small modular bunches. Enough solar panels and batteries, charge controllers, etc. to run a 10 - computer lab 24/7 in India would be about $15,000 and take one day to set up. Then essentially anyone in the vilalge could be trained to use and maintain it, and it would sit there and work for 25 years.

          A m

    • Yeah, and we have parts of the US that are total slums but we're going to spend a shitload of money rebuilding Iraq which we just leveled again. This sometimes leads to the speculation that maybe if the ghettos got bombed, we'd spend some money on them.

      However: We will all come into the future together or we will not come into the future. Everyone does not learn to run at the same speed: Others are already sprinting while some jog, some can only walk, and some are yet crawling. Just because some people

    • I mean, I'm all for computers for the poor, but first things first... clean water and electric power.

      First things first, yes. And the thing to put first is education.

      Clean water, electricity and education are all things that you can live without, but education will eventually solve the other two problems.

      Are computers the best way to spend scarce education dollars? That's debatable, I suppose. Personally, though, I'm willing to grant that they probably know what they need better than I do.

      • Clean water, electricity and education are all things that you can live without, but education will eventually solve the other two problems.

        Without clean water, the children get dysentery and other nasty diseases that can kill them long before they can be educated well enough to figure out how to solve their own problems. Trust me. I lived in rural India for a while. You don't want to drink the tap water. This is analogous to the problem that led the US to develop its school lunch program. Without

        • Without clean water, the children get dysentery and other nasty diseases that can kill them long before they can be educated well enough to figure out how to solve their own problems. Trust me. I lived in rural India for a while.

          And I lived in the jungles of southern Mexico for a couple of years, where the issue is the same.

          With proper care -- which requires *education* and discipline -- you can live just fine with bad water (as long as the problem is biological, not poisonous chemicals).

          And the pac

    • Give them hope .... (Score:4, Informative)

      by Gopal.V ( 532678 ) on Thursday September 09, 2004 @02:03AM (#10198435) Homepage Journal
      > I mean, I'm all for computers for the poor, but first things first... clean water and electric power.

      I'm in India and often I see houses with no running water have TV antenna sticking out of it ... apparently priorities are slightly different :)

      That aside, if you go to my home state Kerala, and ask a maid servant (who earns about 50 USD per month) where her son is , you'll be surprised to learn he's in college and studying engineering. Government funding and cross subsidisation ensures that education is cheap for the merit students. Unfortunately this phenomenon seems to be isolated to Kerala .

      What I wanted to say is that this bold and risky investment on the future happens only when the people see a bright future ahead. These computers might bring hope to a few people in India and might urge them to not quit school before they're 14.

  • Good for them... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ...even though it would probably cost less to place a landline from a major power substation to the area where these computers are supposed to be. Solar power is still damned expensive, and it has its limitations.
    • even though it would probably cost less to place a landline from a major power substation
      India is bigger than Texas. Electricity infrastructure is expensive.
      Solar power is still damned expensive, and it has its limitations.
      This is the ideal application - a long way from power lines, only needed in daylight and no power factor problems to change the phase - even DC would do the job.
    • I don't think you understand just how expensive landlines are. If they could just build them, they'd do that and they wouldn't just power the computers in a few school but a whole bunch of houses.

    • Re:Good for them... (Score:3, Informative)

      by WOV ( 652967 )

      "Probably" indicates an unresearched assumption...$8,000 - $10,000 per kilometer (EEI, EPRI, others,) just to string wires, over relatively unchallenging terrain, in the West, with skilled preexisting crews, from an existing power station, assuming there is a major power substation, then gives you the right to begin *paying* the power bill. Since few or none of these conditions exist pervasively in rural India, let's say the high end of that.

      Meanwhile, an off-grid solar system (if you get it from, e.g. In

  • tools (Score:3, Insightful)

    by celeritas_2 ( 750289 ) <ranmyaku@gmail.com> on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @09:51PM (#10197368)
    Computers are overrated as an educational tool. I think it would be much more important and helpful to have electric lights than access to sex.com. Overrated this post is. as Yoda would say. But really paying to educating teachers in india more, and providing better facilities would help more than a room full of Apple IIs

    • Re:tools (Score:3, Interesting)

      by manavendra ( 688020 )
      >Computers are overrated as an educational tool.

      That's not entirely true. About 15 years ago, in my school in a then-rural town (which is now a city) in India, they had introduced computers. Not many people knew anything about it, not the teachers even. They all had a basic understanding of how it worked, how to boot up (those were dos 2.1 or so days) and basic troubleshooting. FYI, these were old IBM busybee computers (if I remember correctly).

      However, the school went about teaching "computers" in
  • Wow.

    Every summer we can rent a cottage in the Isle of Wight! (If it's not to dear)

  • Whatever you have to do to drag yourself up (Score:4, Insightful)

    by gelfling ( 6534 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @09:54PM (#10197385) Homepage Journal
    This is a good thing because whatever you have to do to rise yourself up out of this shit is good. If you have to bring in solar panels, burn trash, slaughter a chicken, what-the-fuck-ever.

    In 10 years your boss or your senator will be one of these people who absofuckinglutely will not be denied.

  • Also in PNG (Score:5, Informative)

    by joeldixon66 ( 808412 ) * <joel@jd53.cBLUEom minus berry> on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @09:56PM (#10197396) Homepage
    This is a great idea, something similar has been happening in the Paupa New Guinea highlands - link [hopeworldwide.org].

    Perhaps they could also harness the power of flies?
  • no, no not the fact that they are going to power so much schools and equipment with solar power but that somehow they are using the technology in the UK

    its well known that we dont have enough sun, even when we pray at stonehenge

  • Power (Score:2, Troll)

    by sakusha ( 441986 )
    They want to give solar powered computers to schools with no electric power? You realize this means they have no refrigeration or electric lights?

    When you have no refrigeration, you get more deaths from food poisoning and malnutrition. These people don't need computers, they need basic electric applicances like a refrigerator and indoor lights FIRST.
    • ... it describes how the solar power is being used for more basic needs as well.

    • Re:Power (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Aardpig ( 622459 )

      These people don't need computers, they need basic electric applicances like a refrigerator and indoor lights FIRST.

      From personal experience, kerosine-powered fridges and lamps are far, far better options than electrically-powered equivalents. They can be repaied using local know-how, and distribution networks for kerosene are typically already well established in developing countries.

      It's always best to save the electricity for those items that absolutely need it. Computers fall into this category, f

  • Well... (Score:2, Funny)

    by inertia187 ( 156602 ) *
    I've had mine for a while now, and it's great. Until it gets dark, like right about n

  • Use the flies powered fuel cell (Score:4, Funny)

    by mache ( 210555 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @10:04PM (#10197441)
    Didn't we just see a robot powered by a fly digesting fuel cell. The heck with solar power. India has plenty of flies. Just power the school's computer lab with flies.

    -- Mache

  • In other news (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Cooked Squirrel Technology Planned for Rural Arkansas.

  • Donations? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by holysin ( 549880 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @10:07PM (#10197464) Homepage
    Um, am I completely blind or is there no link to donate, or number to call to donate? Yes, I know this is the comerical world and most of us don't care about the rest of the planet. But there's a few of us that do. Hell, I'd donate $20 now, and that makes me wonder how many others would... A lot of people don't want to donate to the christian childrens funds because they tend to push religion down people's throats.

    • Re:Donations? (Score:2, Insightful)

      by melkorainur ( 768297 )
      Donating money is not the best way for you to help. Instead of donating money, just help create a free, fair society. Let's say your hardware firm needs linux device drivers or hardware designed or software or whatever, don't just consider European and American companies, give a thought to Indian companies too. Prevent governments from instituting unfair tarrifs and sanctions [lookup US textile tarrifs and you'll see why it's cheaper and better [quality included] to make tee-shirts in India than in the US].
      • Oh I completely agree. In the long run helping society adjust is the most important thing. However, one of the key steps along that path is to directly help people who need it. And if you can help by cutting back on a couple big macs for a week, it will help people directly, while you continue to try to help them indirectly :)
      • Let's say your hardware firm needs linux device drivers or hardware designed or software or whatever, don't just consider European and American companies, give a thought to Indian companies too. Prevent governments from instituting unfair tarrifs and sanctions

        And people say there's too much groupthink on Slashdot... a post favouring competition from the Indian IT industry, and against government protectionism.

        Wow, that's not going to make any friends. FWIW, I agree, though...

      • Donating money is not the best way for you to help.

        Some people have more money than time, let them share it where they will... do it wisely, and donating money is always effective.

        Everyone has a responsibility to develop a more open society, build a better caring world, expose corporate misconduct, eliminate corruption, blah blah blah no kidding.

        Fundamental changes in oneself are also in order, not just economic institutions: a trans-patriotic internationalism that is based on the friendly competition

    • How hard is it to setup some sort of a donation box?

  • Just what we need more Indian computer users (Score:3, Funny)

    by NotQuiteReal ( 608241 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @10:15PM (#10197516) Journal
    Isn't the usual slashdot instinct to bemoan computer jobs going to India? This is where it starts.

    With a little training your job can be outsourced to someone moonlighing on a solar powered computer in a school in India. Damn, those jobs must suck.

  • Great (Score:2, Funny)

    by be-fan ( 61476 )
    Now rural villagers can take our jobs!

  • Someone put the CRT before the horse. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Artifakt ( 700173 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @10:20PM (#10197547)
    Getting the machines before the power infrastructure is in place is dumb, and NOT just for the obvious reason (having invested a lot of money into something that will take success with a second investment to become useful is always risky). It's dumb because having electricity in those isolated areas is useful for so many other things besides computers, it should have happened already.
    There's tons of medical equipment that requires at least a little power, there's basic emergency communications, and there's all the simpler school supplies that require electricity. If none of these things justified getting some power to these people, computers in the classroom doesn't either.
    We're not just talking relatively high powered systems (such as x-ray machines) that are the equivalent of entire desktop computer labs either. What about small centrifuges or cautery equipment for medicine? What about having enough radio for local government to report being hit by a bad storm or earthquake? What about a few lights to read by, so that school can be held indoors when it rains?
    There are no compact, low energy computer systems that are any more efficient than those devices, and there are even surpluses of many of those devices in storage where they have been replaced by newer gear. Just imagine all the old filmstrip projectors or drafting tables in various urban school systems closets being put to use out in the country instead of gathering dust.
    • just to tell you, most things in india are that way. My parents grew up in india and I have been there more times that I can actually count, and I have had many times where we don't have reliable power, there are beggars outside the front door on the street, and there is a computer in the household. Its the way it works, India is the country that seemed to miss out on the 20th century(a line taken from my dad).

      This is how india improves itself, massive poverty, massive infrastructure and road problems,
  • Well, at least they'll have something to plug their simputers [simputer.org] into.

  • Now you're cooking with ga-- er, Solar. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Mulletproof ( 513805 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @10:34PM (#10197606) Homepage Journal
    Solar Power!? Let me guess, they're not using AMDs :D

    Seriously though, plug some pentium M's in there and you might be able to do the job fairly efficiently. That, and I've always wondered if you couldn't somehow recycle all that excess heat bled off by the chip itself. Kinda like the regenerative braking in cars in away...

    • Current desktop AMD chips draw less power than current desktop Intel chips.

      The Pentium M's might be a bit better on the juice, but that's alright - Via and Transmeta make chips that make the Pentium-M look like a power-hungry pig.

      steve
    • That, and I've always wondered if you couldn't somehow recycle all that excess heat bled off by the chip itself

      Unless you're talking about heating a building or something with that stuff, you're messing with the Laws of Thermodynamics here. Stuff doesn't work that way.

  • Yet another solar power project that's converting the DC output to mains voltage AC and then back again.

    Wouldn't it be better just to charge up a big array of car batteries and then feed the power directly to the motherboards (after a bit of voltage conversion etc)? There's no need to use AC power unless you're transmitting it over long distances. Right Mr Tesla?

    • PC Power Supplies (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Detritus ( 11846 )
      The problem is that modern motherboards need more than generic DC power from an external source. The power requirements of modern motherboards are very severe for current and voltage regulation. This has resulted in the use of DC/DC converters that are tightly integrated into the motherboard design to meet the performance requirements. The performance requirements for a P4 power supply are insane. This means that the external DC power supply is mostly a source of bulk power that it converted to AC on the m
  • Marshall McLuhan foretold this coming in his book Guttenberg Galaxy; nations, electonic nations, tribalized by progressing technology. McLuhan argued quite eloquently that technologies were not simply inventions that people employ but more importantly, are the means by which people are re-invented. This can be truly amazing if they can pull this off and follow through.

  • Similar to Cambodia (Score:3, Informative)

    by Sara Chan ( 138144 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2004 @10:53PM (#10197703)
    Solar panels are also used for general electricity supplies in the Cambodia Schools [cambodiaschools.com] project. There are currently about 250 such schools (funded by private charitable donations, with matching grants from the World Bank; computers are donated by Apple). There was a Slashdot story [slashdot.org] about these schools in January, and how they hook up to the Internet via motorbike.

    Giving children an education is fundamental to long-term economic development.

  • Considering that people in rural areas still use animal power for most things, why not this? I'm thinking maybe a few oxen used to drive a generator or somthing along those lines. Considering that the technology you can purchase for an hour of work in many rural places is small compared to the animals you can purchase, at what point does stuff like generators running on ethanol, animal power, energy that can be locally produced using local materials, etc. become practical.

  • Sad (Score:2, Interesting)

    by ddelrio ( 749862 )
    This story was so sad, I almost felt like offering an Indian my job.
  • Sun microsystems.

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