Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CSIR – CMERI) developed the world largest Solar Tree with customisable features for application in different locations and installed it in the residential colony of CMERI at Durgapur, West Bengal.

About the Solar Tree:

Capacity:

i.The total installed capacity of the solar tree is more than 11.5 kilowatts peak(kWp).

ii.The annual capacity of the tree to generate clean and green power is around 12000 to 14000 units.

Design:

i.The tree holds a total of 35 solar photo-voltaic(PV) panels with a capacity of 330-watt peak (Wp) each.

ii.The design of the solar tree ensures maximum exposure of the sunlight to each solar PV panel.

iii.These panels can be adjusted according to the requirements (this feature is not available in the Roof-mounted solar facilities.

iv.The design ensures the least amount of shadow area below the tree which enables a widespread use in agricultural activities.

Features:

i.The solar trees incorporate IOT based features like CCTV surveillance in agriculture fields, real time humidity, wind speed, rainfall prediction and soil analytics sensors.

ii.Solar powered e-Suvidha Kiosks, developed by the CSIR-CMERI can be connected to the Solar trees to enable real- time access to the agricultural database, eNAM(National Agricultural Market) Place and real-time access to an unified online market.

The cost of one solar tress is up to Rs.7.5 lakh.

Note: The MSMEs interested in the solar trees for developing renewable energy-based grid, can align their business model with the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evem Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM KUSUM) scheme for farmers.

Advantages of Solar Trees:

i.These solar trees are capable of saving around 10-12 tons of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emission compared to the energy generated using other fossil fuels.

ii.This model provides a stable economic return and will support the farmers to tackle the effects of uncertain variations in the agricultural activities, which makes farming an economic and sustainable.