With an aim to provide alternative sources of light to rural school kids at a lower cost, students at IIT Bombay have developed a solar lamp that not only addresses the power shortages, but also gener
With an aim to provide alternative sources of light to rural school kids at a lower cost, students at IIT Bombay have developed a solar lamp that not only addresses the power shortages, but also generates rural employment. This is one of the many products that IIT Bombay has showcased at the ‘Make In India’ week.
The product has been developed under the ‘Million Soul Programme’, started by IIT Bombay and is funded by the ministry of renewable energy and other private donors. While the minimum price of a solar lamp ranges anywhere between Rs 800- Rs 1,000, Abhilasha Chauhan, project manager at Million Soul Programme said her organisation is providing these lamps to rural students at Rs 120 per unit. “We have already supplied about 9.2 lakh solar lamps and our target is to reach one million students by the end of this month,” she added. Apart from providing low cost alternative source of energy, another objective of the programme is ‘localisation’ where villagers does the assembly, distribution, repair and maintenance of solar lamps. “So far we have trained 1000 villagers to perform these functions,” she added. The programme has been implemented in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Orissa covering ten thousand villages.
Among other interesting products on display at the Make in India exhibition includes SSS100 developed by Arcatron Mobility, which enables wheelchair users to access toilets and baths in an independent and safe manner. “In India, it is difficult for a person with loco motor disabilities to live comfortably by themselves. We wanted to come up with a solution for such people,” said Ganesh Sonawane, Cofounder of Arcatron.
