Birds Eye Energy, a green energy company with a strong
focus on R&D, has developed an innovative duplex solar panel. The
two-in-one solar panel developed by co-founders of Birds Eye Energy. Praneeth
Pillarisetti and Harsha Vardhan Reddy generates electricity and heats water,
occupying only 170 square feet on the terrace, leaving more space for more
panels. Praneeth and Harsha have plans for further innovations, which includes
incorporating micro-concentrators within solar panels, negating the need for
large mirrors to focus the sun rays on to the panel, for industrial use.
For the past decade, some of the sharpest minds
working in energy research at IIT Madras and CSIR-CEERI, Chennai have been
involved in creating novel energy solutions to meet customer needs.
Praneeth, BTech in Aerospace Engineering from Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, and Masters in Renewable Energy Systems
from the University of Florida recalls that the model was initially a 10×15 cm
designed for academic demonstration, and they had to do further R&D to make
the product viable. The solar panel converts 35% of the solar energy into
electricity as opposed to 15% to 18% by traditional solar panels despite taking
up the same amount of roof space. For traditional panels, about 85% of solar
energy is wasted as heat, so the Birds Eye panels are up to 2 times efficient compared
to the former.
Harsha, Praneeth’s batchmate at IIT Madras, studying
Bio-technical Engineering before pursuing MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, added that
they looked at improving the quality of panels and the heat exchanger such that
the panels would last for 15 to 20 years and heat exchanger for 25 years,
without frequent maintenance or replacement.
The Indian power sector is set to grow by 600% over
the next 30 years, and developers of new and innovative green energy
technologies like those behind Birds Eye Energy will look to cater to the
growing market of Indian consumers.
Meanwhile, the co-founders have also applied for three
patents for the technology used to develop and design the duplex solar panels.
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