Towards sustainable energy systems: integrating renewable energy sources is the key for rural area power supply

Abstract

Over 1.6 billion people living in the rural areas of the poorest regions of the world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia lack access to modern forms of energy services. In addition, currently used sources of energy for cooking and heating (wood, crop residues, charcoal, etc.) are a serious source of indoor pollution, causing environmental and health problems and contributing to deforestation. Energy is a prerequisite for sustainable development and for fighting poverty. Availability of affordable and sustainable energy to all people is critical to the achievement of the millennium development goals and its contributions impact in various ways. In the context this article has the objectives of emphasizing certain prime issues, challenges and probable solution for the promotion of renewable energy technologies (RET) in an integrated way and stimulates on the removal of barriers on implementation strategies in the region of South Asia in general and India in particular. For the ease of understanding a simple integrated model and the results for a remote site has been presented along with the benefits of the system to rural area power supply