An overview of free Spirits Green Labs (P) Ltd

An overview free Spirits Green Labs (P) Ltd.

2014

free Spirits Green Labs (P) Ltd. 131, Site-2, Vikas Puri, New Delhi - 18

5/19/2014

We are a group of engineers graduated from various colleges across India. We aim to lighten each and every rustic home with light. We have a vision to make the rural India go SOLAR, with the ever increasing demand in power by the cities and the villages being neglected.

We aim to provide solar charging stations, water pumping plants and

food preservation, cooling systems and many other applications of solar

energy in villages which are unable to access the conventional source of

electricity and possess no such facilities. Also, small products like solar

home lighting systems, portable mobile phone chargers and solar street

lights are part of this initiative. free Spirits Green Labs is an initiative to a

greener world. Powering homes is not the only motive, but empowering

people with skills and knowledge to operate integrates our vision. This

will ensure the use of products efficiently and will also create

employment opportunities. The products and the journey so far has been

guided by the aim to innovate products that will save money and

preserve the conventional sources of energy.

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1. About Us

We are a team of young engineers that started off with a little college project three years back, oblivious then of the heights that our dream of developing green energy solutions could take us to. Today, we have worked with 6 villages, touched lives of more than 500 people and developed many different products. It started with a college project, but the passion of innovating and developing new solutions of solar energy for rural development has developed that project into a private limited company. We worked under the honorable guidance of Prof. Kumar Krishen. He encouraged our endeavors and supported our research and pilot studies academically as well as financially. Prof. Kumar is a true motivation for free spirits to grow as an organization and serve the society better.

2. Introduction

The use of direct solar energy in India has evolved for more than three thousand years.

Most prominent of these are the drying of foods for preservation and assured availability

during non-crop periods of the year, the drying of garments/clothes, and therapeutic

protocols for human and animal health. This direct use of solar energy continues while

modern technologies have made the rural life dramatically different. The main sources of

energy for rural communities of India are electricity, gas, and petroleum. With increasing

population, henceforth, increasing need of energy, the present sources are unable to

satisfy this rise in demand. In addition to this, burning of wood, charcoal, and other

materials have negative environmental consequences. For these reasons, a paradigm

shift is needed and that calls for extensive use of non conventional sources of energy

(solar, wind, biomass etc). India is a developing country, and its economy is largely

dependent on agriculture. But, in this era of modernization rural India has been

completely neglected. Therefore, targeting the agricultural sector of India for the

innovative use of solar power will directly contribute to the economy and development

of the nation. The intelligent and innovative uses of solar energy will render cost

effective, reliable, and environmentally friendly solutions for rural India.

3. The Technological Challenges

The main challenge we see for the solar power utilization in rural India is to maintain the values and culture of the farm communities while providing solar based technology to exponentially enhance the quality of life of the inhabitants. This requires an in depth

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understanding of the needs of rural inhabitants and innovative approach for implementing and integrating solar power in their life style. Cost is a major concern for rural India. Rural inhabitants tend to be very cost conscientious and most often do not have the monetary resources needed for high-tech solutions. They tend to do mental trade-offs on a daily basis to economize and use their resources most effectively. Financial sector is not fully developed limiting borrowing and financing opportunities in these communities. In view of this, any solar technological solutions have to be cost-effective. The challenge is to develop devices and appliances for rural applications that can stand rough use by persons not technologically savvy. For this reason, technologies have to be rugged, reliable, and easy to use and repair. The ease of maintenance is essential for successful technology intervention. Furthermore, costs associated with repair and maintenance should be minimal. Weather changes have dramatic effect on the amount of solar energy that can be harvested. For this reason, technological approaches should work in seasons alike because the farm work continues all through the year.

4. Journey So Far

Solar Power Initiative for Rural India Team (SPIRIT) Pilot Project in Bhajju (Shamli

district), and Kamheda Tughlakpur (Muzzafarnagar district) Villages, Uttar Pradesh,

India

A team of students from Delhi Technological University (DTU) and ‘free Spirits’ worked

together under the guidance of DTU Honorary Professor, Dr. Kumar Krishen; who is

dedicated to the welfare of the people living in rural areas, to provide small solar

powered setups for ten families free of cost. The hardware requirements for this project

worth Rs. 30,000 are funded by Prof. Krishen through the Krishen Foundation

(http://www.krishenfoundation.org/). The installation work was completed on August

11, 2013. After a few days, a feedback was taken from the families and the necessary

modifications needed in the systems were done. The up gradation cost of the systems

was Rs. 15,000 and was funded by free Spirits. The purpose of providing the free setups

to the families was to get feedback from them and check their feasibility in the villages.

http://www.krishenfoundation.org/

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Project Rashmi

Electricity is like a distant dream of the inhabitants of a small village in Mirzapur, Uttar

Pradesh. We inquired about the problems faced by the villagers on a daily basis. On

interviewing some of them, one of the problems was considered and then concluded

that they pay Rs. 5 every alternate day to charge their mobile phones. At times they

wait for hours for their turn. The monthly cost of charging their mobile phones

approximates around Rs. 100 – 120. To address this problem, we came up with Project

RASHMI, which aims to provide solar mobile phone chargers to the villagers. The

advantage is that the phone could be charged during the day without requiring any

waiting in queues and rent payment to the station owner. Every villager would have

their personal charging station with them. The monthly expenditure would drop to Rs.

19 for mobile phone charging. More than 100 villagers were benefitted with our solar

powered mobile phone chargers.

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Electrification of a charitable school, Dodaballapura, Bangalore

A small chartable school working hard to spread awareness among the rural families

about the importance of education has more than 200 students from around 60 villages.

We met with the principal to discuss about the development of this area and who is

willing to help us with that. We have installed a small solar powered light setup in that

school that can be used to power 3 - 4 LED lights during the night time. Also, we’ve

distributed some solar powered mobile phone chargers in the villages for free. This will

give them a practical experience over these devices. We are in association with various

organizations for further development work.

Working with TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences) to help provide electricity in

villages in Maharashtra

We presented our projects and products to the research panel of the TISS. Impressed

with our work, they have asked us to participate in their annual fest, where in all the

authorities already working on rural development will be participating and also all the

villagers will be attending the fest. The idea is to showcase the application (giving a

demo) to the villagers in the fest. After this demo, we will be surveying one of the

villages to get information about the needs of the villagers and the kind of application

required for that village.

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5. Our proposal

After analyzing the technological challenges described in the previous sections, we have

come up with following solutions that can be implemented in rural areas. All the

mentioned solutions are capable of bringing a positive change in the lives of people who

are unable to make use of electricity due to its unavailability.

(a) Solar Powered Rural Homes / Hut

The technologies to be used in home/hut include lights, fans, phones etc. Solar powered

rural homes or huts would make the inhabitants independent of the power provided by

the state. Solar powered huts aim at providing the basic lighting to people who have

been devoid of this invention for years.

The solar panel via controller charges the battery. During the day the appliances run

directly on solar power, simultaneously the battery captures the solar energy to be

utilized later. Depending upon the utility of various houses and the affordability of the

people, we have six different models that can be provided. Also all the appliances to be

used with the solar powered system are provided in the models:

Model 1 (battery backup of 5-7 hours)

Solar Panel (30 watts)

Battery (12 V, 20 Ah)

1 LED light (9 watts)

1 DC table fan (12 watts)

Solar charge controller

Model 2 (backup of 5-7 hours)


Battery (12 V, 40 Ah) (3 yr warranty)

2 LED lights (9 watts)


1 DC mobile charging device

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1 chargeable torch (3 watts, backup > 15 hours)




Battery (12 V, 60 Ah)




Solar lantern (4 watts, backup > 4 hours)

















1 portable DC mobile charging device



1 DC table lamp (8 watts, backup > 3 hours)


Model 6 (backup of (4-5 hours) This is the basic model which can be provided to a family. It can be used to light up one LED light of 9 watts (or 2 LED lights of (4 watts) for four to five hours


Battery (12V, 7 Ah)

LED light (9 watts)


As it is a part of our initiative, we do not charge anything for installation of these setups

and the mounting structure of solar panels. Also, a free detailed workshop is taken so as

to make the users aware of functioning of the system.

(b) Solar lighted Streets / Corners / Farm ways

Solar lights are used all over the globe. The system uses solar energy during the daytime

to charge the battery, then with the help of a controlling device, these lights work from

dusk to dawn automatically. India being a tropical nation can utilize this free energy in

lighting the streets in the villages. Having street lights in rural areas is helpful in a

number of ways:

Making nightlife better in case of transportation, medical emergencies etc.

Improving security.

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(c) Solar Mobile Charging device

Solar energy can be easily used to charge a mobile phone battery during daytime. A

portable, rugged and efficient system allows proper charging and stands rough use by

the people not technologically savvy. This device not only charges mobile phone

batteries, but is also used to charge batteries of other small appliances like torch,

lantern etc and can be used to run small DC fans. This device comes with a solar panel

and DC charger for efficient and fast charging.

The payback period of all the systems described above is 3 – 7 years. These systems will

not only be able to provide facilities to the people living in rural areas but will also help

in reducing carbon footprint by a very large amount. The replacement of

diesel/kerosene, wood and coal by solar energy for production of electricity will have a

positive impact on the environment.

(d) Solar Charging Stations Solar charging station is an area where people can come with their batteries and get them charged for very nominal amount. This facility is developed after a detailed analysis of the usage of some particular rural areas in the country. Solar charging station is best suitable for areas where people can’t afford to buy their own home lighting systems.

(e) Solar Technical Trainings This training programme is specially designed for local technicians/electricians in rural parts of the country, but is not limited to them. We teach them how to install DC home lighting systems and then how to maintain them. We also give them hands on experience on many other low power solar products. This is how our projects create employment opportunities in those areas.

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(f) Solar workshops in schools and colleges The Solar Workshop Drive is created to establish the fundamental concepts required to harness the energy of sun in many different ways. The major focus is on the small level applications which the students can learn, make and use during the sessions and afterwards. Our course structure is uniquely designed to fulfill needs of particular audience: college graduates. The workshop includes small interactive sessions on variety of issues such as calculating energy expenditures of different devices.

(g) Solar schools/community centre (h) Motorbike mobile charger (i) Solar lanterns (j) Solar LED lights (k) Solar powered fans

(There are many other products that are produced according to the needs of the people

across the country).

6. Other Important Plans

The applications of solar power should include direct utilization of light, direct utilization

of heat, and transfer of solar energy into electric power. We suggest the following

possible needs based on the observations and experience in rural communities of India.

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(a) Solar Charging Stations

(b) Solar Powered Centralized Food Preservation Facility

(c) Solar Powered Irrigation System

(d) Solar Powered Vehicles

(e) Solar Powered Waste Management

7. The Road Ahead

Extension of Solar Power Initiative for Rural India Team (SPIRIT) Pilot Project in Bhajju

(Shamli district), and Kamheda Tughlakpur (Muzzafarnagar district) Villages, Uttar

Pradesh, India

With successful completion of Pilot project in two villages of Uttar Pradesh, we got the

desired feedbacks from the villagers about the use of solar powered systems. Also, the

ten families are happy to see their homes lightened. After modifying all the systems as

per the feedback, we are ready to launch ‘Extension of Pilot Project’ in September 2013.

This time we plan to upgrade the ten systems installed and also provide six more solar

powered setups to poor families free of cost. The aim of upgrading the previous systems

and providing six more setups free of cost is again to get a feedback from people about

its feasibility and any more modifications if needed.

Rural Electrification of a village in Rajasthan in collaboration with Arya Tara Mahila

Trust, Pune

Our initiative to lighten up the lives of the people living in rural areas has found a match with

the members of Arya Tara Mahila Trust, Pune. Two of our representatives will be surveying one

of the villages in Rajasthan with them to know about the requirements of the people and all the

best suitable and possible applications of solar energy for that area. As of now we have already

planned for around 20 street lights to be installed in the village.

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Planning to initiate Solar Training Programme with The Indian Project Howrah South Point (HSP) is an Indian NGO under which Indian Project was started. Indian Project has been involved in the Solar Electrification of ICOD (Interreligious Centre Of Development – Gaston Dayananda) Community hall. ICOD is located in an isolated rural area near Calcutta and welcomes children, disadvantaged young and older people to give them a chance to get a healthy living place conducive to their development and wellbeing. We are planning to start Solar Training Programme in some areas with them.

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Manish

+91-9999725204 [email protected]

Nitin


Anuj


Ankitaa

[email protected]

free Spirits

free Spirits Green Labs (P) Ltd. 131, Site – 2, Vikas Puri

New Delhi – 110018 India

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An overview of free Spirits Green Labs (P) Ltd