IIT-M working on battery to store solar power

Chennai: Tasting success in the solar technology, the Ind­ian Institute of Techn­ology (IIT), Madras, will soon come out with a cost-effective battery technology, which could be used to store large quantity of electricity.

Speaking to DC on Satu­rday, IIT-M director Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi said that several faculty at the institute had started their research on optimisation of electricity and appropriate battery technology.

“We are working on lower life cycle cost. We are looking at bulkier, non portable, batteries, which would be used for fixed use. Centre for decentralised photovoltaic systems in our institute is working on how to handle problem of load shedding and harness solar power locally,” he said.

Prof. Ramamurthi says that India en­joys solar power for over 300 days in a year from 9 am to 4 pm with variations. Pointing out that the present solar tech had mismatch of production and storage (battery) of electricity, he said that a person had to spend Rs 14 to store one unit of power in the battery.