IIT Madras to power 1 lakh houses

Chennai: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras will soon power on a trial basis about 1 lakh houses in north India with its innovative 48V Uninterrupted Direct Current (UDC) technology. Delivering the first extra mural Omnibus lecture series, titled ‘Can decentralised solar power help in overcoming power cuts in Indian homes?’ at the institute on Wednesday, Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala, a faculty member who developed the UDC technology, said that this first-of-its-kind system guaranteed uninterrupted power from the grid even during a black-out.

DC driven brushless fans and LED lights consume less than half as much power as Alternate Current (AC) does. Also, all electronic equipment, like TV, computer and cellphone, use low-current DC power, and conversion of AC-to-DC for electronic devices results in loss of power. Their team, which included Institute Director Prof Bhaskar Ramamurthi and a few other faculty members, have done trials in homes in cities like Chennai, Hyderabad and Trivandrum, Prof Jhunjhunwala said.

Power distribution companies needed to install a second power line with 48V DC power at homes, which provided limited, but uninterrupted power. “This minimum power can be used to run DC powered fans, lights, cell phone chargers, computers, etc. Thus instead of a total blackout, you can have a small amount of power to run your equipment,” he said. The professor of electrical engineering also said that they planned to put their technology to further test by lighting about 1 lakh houses in north India.“We are yet to decide the location as the Union government has to inform us of the location for trial. This technology will power all homes in rural areas in future,” he said.