UPS of job scheme computers to run on solar power

A Bangalore-based company that offers off-grid solar lighting solutions, along with ‘multiple system integrators', has bagged a contract from the Centre to develop an information communication technology (ICT) hardware backbone for handheld devices.

Following the contract, Duron Energy Pvt. Ltd, would provide solar UPS that would be used to power a Netbook, a mobile printer, and peripherals such as biometric devices that would be used to record transactions of participants in the job scheme of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), said Ajay Awasthi, president and CEO, Duron Energy.

He was speaking at a press conference to announce the expansion of the company's distributor network, here on Thursday.

Solar energy would power the Netbook that would use 16 watt of energy for six hours, the mobile printer that would use 4 watt for six hours, and other accessories such as biometric readers with an energy capacity of 140Wh.

He said the estimated cost of the contract was Rs. 1,800 crore and one-tenth of the amount was that of Duron. “We participated through system integrators. They supply the hardware, we power them,” he said and declined to disclose the name of the system integrators.

The company had plans to expand into rural markets by reaching to people with partial or no access to grid electricity. It had plans to cover 4,000 villages in six months, including villages with population of less than 10,000 people. It was appointing new dealers in Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Shimoga, and Kodagu, increasing the present 24 distributors to 41 in these places, he said.

The products were portable, plug-and-play devices including lights (using LEDs) with mobile phone charging and fans that run on solar energy.

Next, it would market its products in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, and Rajasthan. The company, founded by U.S.-based Idealab, an incubator of technology companies, planned to market the products in Nepal next month, and in Africa in three to six months, he said.