U.S. to help India with energy needs

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BLACKSBURG, Va., Sept. 27 (UPI) -- A research center set to open in India will work to refine and adapt windmills and solar panels for use in households in rural India, U.S. engineers said.

The center, a collaboration between Virginia Tech and private-sector partner MARG Swarnabhoomi, will help release millions of people from poverty by helping India produce enough electricity for everyone, they said.

"The goal is to improve life for 400 million Indians not connected to the grid," said Guru Ghosh, Virginia Tech vice president for international affairs. "We're aiming for the point where the solar panels and small windmills can be mass produced, tested in India's rural communities and then be deployed to create low-cost, renewable energy worldwide."

The research center is to open this fall in Tamil Nadu state in southeastern India, Virginia Tech reported.

"India, with its big energy needs, can immediately begin to use these technologies and tell us how they work, what improvements need to be made, and guide us so that the windmills and solar panels are suitable to go to the marketplace," said Shashank Priya of Virginia Tech's College of Engineering.