Country’s urban and rural households which do not have reliable access to electricity can now bank on low-cost environment-friendly solar lighting device developed by the Department of Science and Technology.
Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan, who launched the device at a Press conference here, said it is “leak proof” and works for almost 16 hours at a stretch.
“This device has the potential of being used in some 10 million households and, if this happens, it would result in saving of 1,750 million units of energy. This would also lead to reduction in emission of 10 million tons of carbon dioxide,” he said.
“This can be typically used in slums,” said YS Chowdary, Minister of State for Science & Technology, adding it was used in the slums of lal Bagh in the national Capital as a pilot project.
Explaining the working of the device, Vardhan said the micro solar dome captures sunlight through a transparent semi-spherical upper dome and concentrates it inside a dark room. The light passes through a sun-tube having a thin layer of highly reflective coating on the inner wall of the passage.
It also contains a low dome having a shutter at the bottom that can be closed if light is not required in the daytime.
The cost of the device is around Rs 1,200 and the figure could go down if it is manufactured on a large scale.