Solar Diyas By IIT-Bombay Professor Will Spread Light And Message Of Sustainability This Diwali
With Diwali, the festival of lights just around the corner, it is time to go shopping for lamps, which are an essential part of the festival.
But how about adding a little twist to the traditional earthen lamps this time around?
Introducing solar diayas, developed by Chetan Singh Solanki, a professor in IIT-Bombay.
Solanki, who has been an innovator, in the solar field for well over a decade has developed a diya, which looks and feels like the traditional lamps, but is powered by solar.
Spread awareness about climate change
"The basic idea behind the solar diyas was to spread awareness about climate change, which is largely driven by fossil fuels. We need to switch to renewable energy and solar is a source of untapped energy. People will have to switch to solar energy one day. Before that this small diay can introduce them to the world of solar, on how it works, how it feels like, etc," Solanki told Indiatimes.
The shell of the solar diyas is made of plastic and has a solar panel on top of it.?
"The solar panel will convert the light into electricity and will be stored in a battery, which is also inside. The small circuit inside will convert the power into light through an LED. The solar panel is also a light sensor. The diay automatically turns on when it is dark and during the day it will switch off and will be in charging mode," Solanki explained.
He said that they are still working on developing a material to replace plastic, from which the current diyas are made.
"We are still in the process of identifying an earthen material for the diya, so that it doesn't break easily. The life of the solar panel, the batteries, and the LED are 3-4 years. So if we had used clay to make the diya it can break easily and will become useless. We wanted to avoid that situation," he said.
Costs less than Rs 250 a piece
The solar diyas are currently being sold through energyswaraj.com and cost less than Rs 250 apiece.
"Along with creating awareness, we also wanted this solar diyas to become an income generator for at least some people. So we trained a group of women who are currently making these," he said.
Hailing from Barwani District in Madhya Pradesh, Solakni did his masters from IIT-Bombay and worked in chip designing for Texas Instruments in Bengaluru before realising that making solar devices is what he wanted to do.?
"I come from a small village, and when I was designing chips for mobile phones and computers my people are not benefiting from it. That is how the idea of solar came to my mind, and I felt that I can do something that is good for my people and society. So I did my Ph.D. in solar from Europe and returned to India in 2004 to use that knowledge to help people," Solanki said.
Known as Solar Man of India and Solar Gandhi, Solanki feels that the world is already late when it comes to switching to renewable energy sources.
"The right time was yesterday, today is never late. If we look around the world, extreme weather events are on the rise, and man-made emissions from fossil fuels play a major role. Fossil fuels are harmful and temporary. We will run out of it one day and will need another source. The earlier we adapt, the better it will be for all of us," he said.
Solanki also said that there is still a misconception that switching to solar is expensive.
"This is a question of priorities. Mitigating climate change should be among our priorities, not just for us, but for our coming generations. A solar power system for a house can cost around Rs 1-2 lakhs, it is not a big amount, because you are investing in it only once. You don't have to pay electricity bills anymore. So the per-unit cost of solar power is in fact cheaper. It is good to see that there is a growing interest in switching to solar energy in India, but I feel that the pace is very slow. We need to do much more before it is too late," Solanki said.
For more on news and current affairs from around the world please visit?Indiatimes News.
