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Technology and Engineering
- ISSN: 2333-2581
- Modern Environmental Science and Engineering
Socio-Environmental Impact of LED Based Solar Urja Table Lamp at Rural Areas
Debanjan Sannigrahi and Nikita Kala
Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India
Abstract: Solar Urja Lamp (SoUL) is designed and developed by Department of Energy Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay for helping the students in their night study at rural villages of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan which are either electrified or non-electrified villages but depend on kerosene lamps for lighting. Those table lamps are the Standalone Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) system having 4 major technical components: the Light Emitting Diode (LED), a Controller (PCB), a Battery and a Solar Panel. The Lamp base of size 10 × 10 sq. cm. is fitted with Battery, Switch, Indicator LED and PCB. The lamp is designed by keeping the top fitted with LED at 12 inches height from the base for getting lumen efficacy of about 150 lux during general purpose lighting (lower mode) and also about 250 lux which is sufficient during study (higher mode). It is found that each lamp operates for 8 and 5 hours in lower and higher mode with power consumption 0.192 W and 0.352 W respectively. The dedicated team of Engineers visited 24 districts of 4 states and so far trained 780 people in 34 trainings of various NGO groups who in return produced table lamps and distributed to 7,35,352 students at a cheaper rate of Rs 120/-. The project gave fourfold socio-environmental impact in all the villages covered so far. The lamp has allowed students to study in the evening and to complete all school assignments. It has improved the indoor air quality by reducing the use of kerosene lamps which cause respiratory problem to the family members and also various fire hazards. This program has also created new job opportunities in lamp production for locals under the umbrella of NGOs. And finally, the rural families have saved money by reducing the purchase of kerosene gradually. The villagers now believe that SoUL has positive effect on their health, economy, welfare and environment.
Key words: environmental impact, light emitting diode, renewable energy resources, societal impact, Solar Urja Table lamp, SoUL
