PI: Prof. Sudarshan Kumar, Department of Aerospace Engineering

Co-PI: Prof. Asim Tewari, Dept. of Aerospace Engineering

Tata Fellow: Manmohan Singh (2018-20)

India has one third of its population living in villages and out of 6 lakh such villages in India, 40 per cent rural households still do not have access to electricity. The government is working to solve this problem using renewable energies like solar and wind. But the problem persists because of operational dependability of these resources on the environment and high maintenance charges. Hence there is a need for such a gadget which can solve this problem of generating sufficient power to electrify their basic devices.

On the basis of the requirements, the proposed solution is an adjustable and portable thermoelectric generator belt which can be placed around any heated device and can generate enough electricity to power up a Led lamp or charge a mobile phone. Since rural households use chulhas for cooking thrice a day, they can place it around their stoves or heated vessels to utilize the wasted heat energy and generate electricity. Due to its adjustable design, it can be placed on any kind of stove or vessel, without replacing the conventional chulhas. It is independent of weather conditions and requires low maintenance unlike other renewable energy solutions.