Micro-Hydropower in Nepal:Analysing the Project Process to Understand Drivers that Strengthen and Weaken Sustainability

Evaluating the sustainable operation of community-owned and community-operated renewable energy projects is complex. The development of a project often depends on the actions of diverse stakeholders, including the government, industry and communities. Throughout the project cycle, these interrelated actions impact the sustainability of the project. In this paper, the typical project cycle of a micro-hydropower plant in Nepal is used to demonstrate that key events throughout the project cycle affect a plant’s ability to operate sustainably. Through a critical analysis of the available literature, policy and project documentation and interviews with manufacturers, drivers that affect the sustainability of plants are found. Examples include weak specification of civil components during tendering, quality control issues during manufacture, poor quality of construction and trained operators leaving their position. Opportunities to minimise both the occurrence and the severity of threats to sustainability are identified. For the micro-hydropower industry in Nepal, recommendations are made for specific actions by the relevant stakeholders at appropriate moments in the project cycle. More broadly, the findings demonstrate that the complex nature of developing community energy projects requires a holistic consideration of the complete project process

Design for Localisation:a case study in the development and implementation of a low head propeller turbine in Nepal

This paper proposes a methodology for “design for localisation” that addresses the challenge of designing a product for local manufacture and use, whilst considering the production process availability and the context of the local geographic area. The methodology is derived from a case study of the development of a propeller turbine in Nepal. In the case study, the initial challenge was the absence of a low head turbine that could be manufactured, used and repaired in Nepal. A potential solution from previous academic work was identified however its intended operating environment differed considerably. Through identification of the specific local requirements, the design priorities for individual sub-systems in the new context were developed. Using three examples, design changes driven by improving the ease of manufacture and applicability to the local context are explained. Multiple phases of field and laboratory-based testing were used to validate, adapt and improve the design and its method for implementation. The experiences of the case study lead to three rules for design for localisation using an identified potential solution for a local problem: firstly, to derive local product requirements; secondly to develop solutions appropriate for local manufacturing; and finally, to conduct field-testing phases to ensure the product is suitable for its intended application

Interneuron Diversity in the Rat Dentate Gyrus: An Unbiased In Vitro Classification

Information processing in cortical circuits, including the hippocampus, relies on the dynamic control of neuronal activity by GABAergic interneurons (INs). INs form a heterogenous population with defined types displaying distinct morphological, molecular, and physiological characteristics. In the major input region of the hippocampus, the dentate gyrus (DG), a number of IN types have been described which provide synaptic inhibition to distinct compartments of excitatory principal cells (PrCs) and other INs. In this study, we perform an unbiased classification of GABAergic INs in the DG by combining in vitro whole‐cell patch‐clamp recordings, intracellular labeling, morphological analysis, and unsupervised cluster analysis to better define IN type diversity in this region. This analysis reveals that DG INs divide into at least 13 distinct morpho‐physiological types which reflect the complexity of the local IN network and serve as a basis for further network analyses

Magnetic Field Modulation of Recombination Processes in Organic Photovoltaics

Polymer:fullerene photovoltaics have potential in small-scale power production but low open-circuit voltages limit their efficiency. Understanding the processes affecting the charge recombination rate is key to increasing device efficiency through optimizing open-circuit voltage. Most polymer-fullerene systems have an intramolecular triplet exciton state lower in energy than the interfacial charge-transfer state, and its formation can provide a terminal recombination pathway that may limit device performance. We used magnetic fields to modulate intersystem crossing in a prototypical system, and monitored the effect on the open-circuit voltage to infer changes in the steady-state carrier density and hence in the net recombination rate constant. We analyzed these effects using density-matrix modeling, and quantified the various recombination rate constants for a working device