This year, the team has worked on the project keeping in mind solar houses designed for the upcoming Amravati city in Andhra Pradesh.
Preparing themselves for the upcoming competition in July, team Shunya of IIT Bombay (IIT-B) have made a ground plus one house which functions on solar technology.
The 70-member team from IIT-B, which will be participating in Solar Decathlon China 2017, is motivated to contribute to the goal of creating a sustainable future. Shunya is the only team from India to participate in China for this competition. Earlier, the team competed in Solar Decathlon Europe 2014 where they constructed a ground level house which functioned on solar power. Speaking about the earlier project, Supriya Gadre, project architecture, said, "The house has incorporated passive solar technologies for natural ventilation, lighting and temperature control. The use of these technologies made the house 'net positive', which means it created more energy than it consumed."
This year, the team has worked on the project keeping in mind solar houses designed for the upcoming Amravati city in Andhra Pradesh.
According to Akhil Manepaali, team leader of the project, "The project objective is to cater to the housing needs of government officials, corporate employees and industrialists. The modular house with habitable area of about 1500 sq. ft would be easy to erect and transport. This will mainly help the upcoming smart city projects in different parts of the country. We researched about the climatic and geographical conditions of the place before designing it."
While this year's project cost is approximately Rs 4 crore for group plus one house structure, the earlier project cost the students over Rs 25 crore. Speaking about the funds, Akil said, "We get approximately Rs 15 lakhs from the institute for the project, and other funds are sponsored through collaboration with different corporates. We have also approached various government officials and departments to see the project so that it can be implemented practically."
The earlier house made by the team for the competition in Europe is located inside the IIT-B campus and is operated as a project working place for Shunya's members. "The design of the new ground plus one structure house will be revealed in February. This ground structure house has over 16 solar panels while the upcoming structure while will have one additional floor on the top and will have over 32 panels," said Supriya.
Adding more information, Ravi Vaidya, another member of the team, said, "The new design will be unique in terms of semi-modular construction. It will be easily transportable and the floor plates will be relative in size. We have developed it to suit different seasons — monsoon as well as hot and humid climate. The SIP panels will reduce the construction time of the house."
The 40-day competition will include 20 days in constructing the house and 20 days for the actual competition. The students spend approximately five hours daily to work on the project, besides their regular lectures.
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