The Multi Functional Rural Fuel Platform is fitted with an electric generator and driven by the MFRFP's diesel engine. This electric generator enables a local village community to provide power for a small scale village electrification system.
Rechargeable Lanterns
We envision implementing a system where villages can have access to small, battery or capacitor powered lanterns that they can then use to light their homes. These rechargeable LED lanterns will be recharged by the MFRFP's electric alternator in a "sandal based grid".
No wires needed in the "sandal energy grid"
In a "sandal based grid", the lanterns would be charged on the MFRFP Platform during the day, then distributed out to village dwellings to be used that evening. In the morning, the lanterns would be taken back to the MFRFP to be recharged, ready for use that following evening. 120 or 240 volt electrification systems are expensive and require a great deal of cabling and equipment. 12 volt systems suffer from voltage drops when wires runs are over 20ft in length, so are not suitable for village grid systems. The "sandal based energy grid" removes the need for hard wiring. Once the battery has been discharged on the battery or capacitor powered LED lanterns, the villagers can deliver their discharged lanterns back to the MFRFP charging station for recharge. This wireless "sandal energy grid" system has a number of advantages:
- There is no wiring installation with its attendant problems, expense, reliability issues, risk of misuse and misappropriation.
- The lantern's battery or capacitor is fully enclosed and cannot be accessed to use for other inappropriate purposes.
- The lantern's portability means that it can be used anywhere in the house and away from the house in community activities.
- There are no problems arising from non-use if the light is stored in the house.
- The lantern is clearly the responsibility of the home owner.
- Repairs can be effected if required by bringing the entire lantern to a technician.
Rural Electrification
Rural electrification is essential to aid the process of uplifting the rural poor out of the poverty trap as electricity provides access to power leverage and convenience of life we take for granted in the developed world. Enabling access to low cost lighting solutions is one of the easiest ways to transform the standard of living of some of the neediest people on earth. To tackle this problem, we envision equipping each village home with low power usage, WLED lanterns, recharged by the Multi Functional Rural Fuel Platform's electric generator. The number of lanterns used per household will depend on what the home owner needs or on how many lanterns they can afford.
Multi Functional Rural Fuel Platform Generator / Charger connection
The MFRFP is connected to regulators in the town community building, each regulator has wired connections to support the charging of lanterns and other batteries or storage mediums simultaneously. The regulators should also be connected in parallel to a number of larger, lead acid storage batteries which can provide backup power in case the MFRFP is not running and act as the village battery bank. These 12 volt batteries in the battery bank should last up to 3 weeks before requiring a recharge, with an average daily use of 4 to 5 hours.
Renting Lanterns provides a Micro Enterprise opportunity
A recharging facility creates a micro-enterprise opportunity for an enterprising villager to go round and collect the lanterns every day, returning them fully charged in the evening, earning a small fee from each home owner. A solar lantern might cost somewhere in the region of $25.00. In communities that do not have lighting, it is likely that $25 is a huge amount out of the household budget if the villagers are in the $1 per day income bracket as one lantern represents 10% of annual income. Rechargeable lanterns can be recharged from the MFRFP Platform's recharging stations. Eliminating the expense of adding a solar panel to each of the the lanterns enables the lanterns much more affordable than the equivalent solar powered units. If home owners are still to poor to even afford purchasing a low cost lantern, a micro enterprise could rent the lantern to the home owner. The home owner could then offset the cost of kerosene purchases with the rental payments on the lantern, thereby reducing their cost of lighting or pay for the recharge with oil seeds harvested.
The "Sandal Grid" micro enterprise is a win-win for the rural village
The villagers get a better lighting system for a lower cost and the lighting entrepreneurs now have a small business opportunity where by they can economically supports themselves.
