Internet of Things: Smart Remote Solar PV Lab

Satheesh Krishnamurthy, The Open University (Principal Investigator)
Namrata Senga, University of Kota
Tim Drysdale, The Open University
Nick Braithwaite, The Open University

Funding

Funding is gratefully acknowledged from the Royal Academy of Engineering under its GCRF Frontiers of Engineering for Development Seed Funding scheme. 

All content on this page is the sole responsibility of the project investigators.

Grant period: 23 March 2017 - 1 December 2017.

Summary

Solar energy offers significant potential as a clean and sustainable way of powering development. However, a large team of skilled engineers and technicians will be needed if India is to achieve its target of 100 GW of installed solar power capacity by 2022. Currently, although theoretical training on PV panels is delivered by 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. The PV lab, to be installed at the OU, will allow students from Kota 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 one.

Although India is the initial focus, the project offers considerable scope to be scaled up and rolled out in other developing countries.

Contact

Satheesh Krishnamurthy