Internet of Things: Smart Remote Solar PV Lab

The Royal Academy of Engineering has awarded £20,000 to an OU-led project under its GCRF Frontiers of Engineering for Development Seed Funding scheme. Internet of Things: Smart Remote Solar PV Lab, led by Dr Satheesh Krishnamurthy, will develop an open access remote solar photovoltaic (PV) laboratory in collaboration with the University of Kota in Rajasthan, India.

Solar energy offers significant potential as a clean and sustainable way of powering development. However, despite India having a solar potential of 748 GW, a large team of skilled engineers and technicians will be needed if it is to achieve its target of 100 GW of installed solar power capacity by 2022. Currently, although theoretical training on PV panels is already delivered on the University of Kota’s Mtech Energy course, the majority of students do not have access to practical labs and experiments.

Remote online laboratories may offer one solution to this significant skills gap and the remote PV lab, to be installed at the OU, will allow users from the Indian institute to perform an extensive set of experiments under real conditions. In addition, a remote lab will be considerably cheaper and offer easier access than a physical lab. Although India is the initial focus, the project thus offers considerable scope to be scaled up and rolled out in other developing countries, helping to create a new generation of engineering leaders in the process.

Internet of Things: Smart Remote Solar PV Lab supports two GCRF Global Challenges directly: promoting inclusive and equitable quality education and nurturing the development of renewable energy and materials. The project’s outcomes will also directly feed in to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals 4 – Quality Education – and 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy.