Power to the People: Designing a better prepaid solar electricity service for rural Indian villages

Locally generated solar-powered electricity provides relief to electricity deprived villages in rural India. However, despite many positive impacts of prepaid solar-powered electricity services on customers day-to-day lives, consumption remains relatively low. This poses challenges to long term business sustainability. The aim of the Master's thesis, Power to the People: Designing a Better Prepaid Electricity Service for Rural Indian Villages, is to investigate the role of household smart meters in increasing uptake of a prepaid domestic electricity service in rural India. Through a case study of a local electricity service provider the daily lives of the service's customers and their relationship to domestic energy consumption is investigated. A human centered design perspective informs design improvements to the meters and service design. The thesis concludes that while design can play an important role in improving the service, there are larger socio-economic forces at play that ultimately have the greatest influence on uptake of the service.