Author – Viswatej Kampati
The second edition of EESL #innovatetoINSPIRE Innovation Challenge is back in 2019 after a successful run last year. Energy Efficiency Services Ltd India (EESL), in association with the World Resources Institute launched #InnovateToINSPIRE in 2018, a first-of-its-kind energy innovation challenge. EESL invited entrepreneurs, young innovators, and various startups to provide viable solutions that will help India achieve its ambitions for energy security and sustainability.
The #innovatetoINSPIRE Challenge invites participants to come up with sustainable and practical solutions in any of the five specific fields –
1. Improved Grid Management Systems
2. Energy Efficient Technologies
3. Clean Energy
4. Electric Mobility
5. Financial Instruments
The competition looks for the most innovative, scalable and sustainable solutions in the realm of energy efficiency, which can actually be implemented or are already being implemented by the participants. This challenge is open to any Indian living around the world, whether it be an organization or an individual. The winners of this challenge will not only earn funding worth INR500,000, but also will receive mentoring and guidance from leading experts in their respective fields.
In this year’s #innovatetoINSPIRE challenge, 12 organizations have been shortlisted as finalists and the winners will be awarded at the INSPIRE 2019 expo in November 2019. Some of the finalists from the respective challenges are:
Reconnect Energy – Grid Management
Over the years, the renewable energy sector has emerged as a significant player in India by adding to the much-needed power generation capacity. Reconnect Energy deals with this interrelationship with the use of GRIDConnect and Clickpower.in, the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) and market research solutions for the grid integration of renewable energy. Power generation from RE sources in India fluctuates heavily due to their irregular supply to the electricity grid.
GRIDConnect is the Reconnect Energy’s AI and power automation platform that enables the electric utilities and renewable energy producers to not only predict volatile variables like the amount of renewable energy (wind, solar), electric demand, and market price but also enables large scale energy data automation.
Reconnect Energy’s main aim is to adopt the use of predictive analytics-based decisions to eradicate the uncertainty related to RE resources and make them grid friendly. While the organization strives to empower grid-friendly energy production, it parallelly works on market research to design specific solutions for increasing the consumption of renewable energy among commercial and industrial customers in order to make access to renewable energy more democratic and widespread.
Reckon Green – Energy Efficient Technologies
Reckon Green Innovations is an organization working on energy-efficient technology, which offers simple and effective solutions like LED Lightning, super-efficient ceiling fans, exhaust fans, energy savers for air conditioners and sensor controls to help consumers achieve their efficiency goals. Their innovation, the “Regain LED Tube Light” is noteworthy for its efficiency and practicality, since it reportedly has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the return on investment by 8 times.
These patented LED tube lights have plug-in drivers and two-way power inputs to offer high performance, increase in longevity by 400%, and reduce E-waste production by 80% by employing the usage of power supplies with detachable plug-in drivers, which prevent premature life cut, and reduce the process of repair of these LEDs.
The Regain LED tube lights allow the customization of end-caps of the drivers by being flexible to the needs of the customers before or after purchase. In these tube lights, one lamp is offered many choices of end caps including plug & play compatible and motion sensing, which incorporate the usage of microwaves.
The Solar Labs – Clean Energy
The Solar Labs is a startup incubated in IIT Mandi, whose fundamental focus is to improve the state of the solar energy sector in India by using artificial intelligence. The Solar Labs has developed a technology that guides solar installers to assess the amount of solar power that can be installed on any rooftop, the amount of solar energy that can be produced from that installation, and the financial estimates for that particular installation.
The Solar Labs Software helps in automating the tasks involved in the installation of Solar Rooftop Photovoltaic systems by replacing the comprehensive process of planning, engineering, and blueprint design by performing a detailed analysis of the customer’s rooftop remotely with the help of three dimensional models built from drone footage or satellite imagery of the customer’s site.
The design optimization by The Solar Labs software not only eradicates the intensive steps involved in the installation, but also helps determine the best location to generate the maximum amount of energy for that site. This tool can surely boost the rooftop solar segment, which is growing rapidly in India and actually transform it into the mainstream source of energy.
Mobycy – Electric Mobility
Mobycy is an electric motorbike sharing platform that aims to help people cover short distances at affordable rates, while simultaneously reducing the burden on the environment. The company’s primary goal is to provide a platform for shared mobility among daily commuters with the use of electric vehicles.
Customers can book an e-bike or e-scooter from the Mobycy app and unlock the vehicle by scanning the QR Code on the E-scooter. The company makes use of an integrated smart locking system IoT (Internet of Things) based which ensures safe locking and unlocking by adopting QR scanning technology. Mobycy’s Zypp scooters are fitted with smart IoT locks, so the available scooters in the customer’s vicinity can be easily located and unlocked. The app also informs you about the remaining battery power, so that you can choose the best from them. To make it easy for customers to return the vehicle, Mobycy allows customers to just park the vehicle in any public parking place instead of specifically designated parking areas.
Mobycy offers stationless e-bikes to solve the problem last-mile connectivity for students, office-goers, and daily commuters who often face obstacles with public transport systems. Further, the Mobycy platform employs smart GPS lock-based technology to enable dockless riding and parking, which promises to provide a greener alternative to conventional methods for short-distance transportation.
Three Wheels United – Financial Instruments
Three Wheels United is a global tech-enhanced finance company that provides affordable green asset financing to autorickshaw drivers to assist them in purchasing electric rickshaws. It helps generate more income for auto drivers by offering affordable loans to, who are often trapped by predatory loan schemes, restricting their chances to earn a steady income. This allows drivers to earn more by employing the use of next-level Fintech loan management system sustained by income generation, behavioral data, and asset management.
Three Wheels United has been able to finance around 2,400 electric vehicles till now, while maintaining default rates below 1% for all of them. Three Wheels Capital, a subsidiary of Three Wheels United is a regulated Non-Banking Financial Corporation, which issues loans for light electric vehicles. This accessory of the Three Wheels United offers up to 100% funding on Electric 3-wheeler loans with a tenure of up to 45 months. Currently, the company offers loans on Mahindra Treo, but plans on providing loans for more electric light vehicles soon. Three Wheels United.