To ensure that people living in the hilly regions of Ladakh do not have to shiver in the bone-chilling cold as temperature falls as low as -20 degree C, plans are afoot to install eco-friendly solar-powered PCM (Phase Change Material) integrated space heating system by the next winters in tourists shelters, homes and schools.
A decision was taken in this regard recently here at a meeting between the representatives from UT Ladakh and Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the Union Ministry of Science and Technology which has helped designed the system.
"The developed system has the potential to meet the needs of space heating in residential schools, tourist shelters and for a large number of houses in Ladakh.
The Ladakh government is also keen to utilise innovations in clean energy needs for the people of Ladakh," said Umang Narula, advisor to Lt. Governor of Ladakh in Delhi, at a meeting where the decision for installation was taken.
Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST said that meeting water requirement along with space heating solutions is an important niche area which requires to be pursued further. These innovation revolve around the needs of the people, he added.
The system, which works 24×7 to maintain the room temperature in the range of 15-20°C throughout the day and night, developed by Pluss Advanced Technologies, Gurugram, and the prototypes tested at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh can be a sustainable clean energy source for hill areas providing for both heating and lighting needs.
This system directly utilises solar heat and has the potential to be more efficient than converting solar light to electricity and then to heat following the photovoltaic generation route.
The developed system which is 5m×4m in size consists of an evacuated tube collector (ETC) which acts as the solar collector in which radiation is collected, a duct fan which pulls the hot air from the solar air collector and pushes it to the heat exchanger with Phase Change Material.