Literacy drive for Design a Solar System for Homes
India is a tropical country. It has enormous possibilities of tapping solar energy. Indian renewable energy sector is the fourth most attractive renewable energy market in the world. Installed renewable power generation capacity has gained pace over the past few years. As a part of its Paris Agreement commitments, the Government has set an ambitious target of achieving 175 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy capacity by 2022. These include 100 GW of solar capacity addition and 60 GW of wind power capacity. It is expected that use of solar energy will be able to minimise the dependence of thermal power and reduce environmental pollution. Investing in rooftop solar PV System solutions leads to great savings, while protecting the environment. Solar installation on the roof top of Hospitals can ensure constant and reliable power supply for all medical care facilities at the hospital.
The Energy Swaraj Foundation (ESF) is a not-for-profit, non-governmental company, formed to establish Energy Swaraj across the world. The moto of the ESF is “Energy by Locals for Locals” provide cost effective solar energy solutions by Local capacity building. The Foundation collaborates with local academic institutions to establish “Energy Swaraj Ashrams” or solar incubation centers to enable and nurture local entrepreneurs. As a part of its Energy Literacy Drive, the Energy Swaraj Foundation had launched the course to “Design a Solar System for Homes” delivered by Prof. Chetan Singh Solanki, Department of Energy Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay.
This course gives unique opportunity to the students to become Energy Literate irrespective of their educational background and experience. Any organization can actively become a partner in making their students Energy Literate. Once 500 students get certified through an organization’s link, the organization will be awarded a certificate and a letter of appreciation.
As a part of AICTE driven initiative, more than 1100 students of CBIT have registered and 745 Students have been certified by ESF after they have taken the on-line test designed for the students. These students have learnt Energy and Power calculations, basics of Home PV Solar system, details of Solar radiation and Panel area calculation, basics of Batteries, Electronic Controller for Solar PV System, Cost calculation and awareness about the subsidies available for the technology through the video lectures provided by ESF. The skill acquired by the students will help them to plan for development projects, participate in commercial installations and carry out further research in this area.
Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (A) has been awarded an Appreciation Letter and a Certificate from ESF for the support towards the Energy Literacy Drive and taking the initiative one step forward by certifying more than 500 students from the institute.