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Category: Project

Description: This evaluation will build on and extend the deployment of a real-time, high-frequency data collection system for outages, which the DIL team has successfully tested in Ghana as part of an earlier DIL pilot activity supported by MCC. The suite of grid monitoring technologies deployed in Ghana is centered around PowerWatch, a system that directly integrates a plug-load power meter and a GSM radio that, in addition to sensing power outages and power restorations, will also sense voltage and AC frequency at the plug. This data collection system, developed with support from HESN and MCC, is expected to enable a rigorous estimation of the effectiveness of compact investments in reducing power outages and improving the reliability of the power distribution network in Accra. This project furthers the central DIL goals of scaling development technologies, incorporating cutting-edge measurement technologies into rigorous social science impact evaluations and institutional M&E, and advancing development engineering principles of iterative design, impact analysis, and interdisciplinary collaboration.