Cygni Energy’s Solar Tech is Lighting Up Homes in Rural India

Out of the 44,854 total installations planned, 30,828 have been completed so far.

Solar-Direct Current (DC) Inverterless Technology, pioneered by Cygni Energy Private Limited, a startup that was incubated by the Rural Technology Business Incubator (RTBI) of IIT-Madras, is lighting up homes in remote parts of the country which are beyond the reach of electricity grids.

The IIT-Madras incubated startup is now installing 3,026 units in Manipur villages and another 25,000 units in Assam. The Manipur Project, taken up at a cost of Rs 11.5 crore, was funded by Manipur Renewable Energy Development Agency. The installation has been completed in 2,800 Homes. Most Beneficiaries are situated in remote, inaccessible mountainous regions of Manipur.

This project resulted in the electrification of 96 villages in places such as of Senapati, Ukhrul, Churachandpur, Chandel, Phrezawl, Thoubal and Tamenglong. Out of the 44,854 total installations planned, 30,828 have been completed so far.

Speaking about the importance of the project, Ashok Jhunjhunwala of IIT-M, who leads the research on this technology, said, “Solar-DC system makes the equipment much smaller in size and cost. It has helped us in these difficult terrains where carrying anything would have been difficult.”

“Powering homes with DC power-line reduces the power-consumption and would be increasingly deployed with solar in urban and rural India homes,” he added.

The firms breakthrough technology uses DC solutions to remove AC to DC and DC to AC conversions. Removing the need of conversion helps in saving 30% to 40% of energy, according to an official release.

This later provides more power backup with a lesser size of batteries and solar panel which thus also contributes to reducing the cost of the system, it added.