Honeywell, IIT Dharwad to set up Centre of Excellence for affordable, clean energy

The project seeks to establish physical infrastructure, incubate technologies, and identify avenues for adoption of technologies to improve the lives and livelihoods of rural communities.

Honeywell Hometown Solutions India Foundation (HHSIF) has established the Global Centre of Excellence for Affordable and Clean Energy (GCoE-ACE) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Dharwad to boost research in affordable and clean energy. 

The multi-year project seeks to establish physical infrastructure, incubate technologies, and identify avenues for adoption of clean energy solutions that are developed to improve the lives and livelihoods of rural communities. “The partnership enhances healthcare, education, transportation, communication facilities in remote regions while minimising damage to the environment,” said P Seshu, Director, IIT Dharwad. 

In the first phase, funding from HHSIF will be utilised to procure, install and commission various equipment required for setting up the centre to undertake research and development and fabrication. The infrastructure will be used by innovators and incubators working in the areas of affordable and clean energy. It will also be used to build capacities through training and skill development of innovators. 

HHSIF and IIT Dharwad will develop an open-source platform to build an interactive database of grassroot level energy-related challenges. The platform will also be used to solicit ideas to solve these problems through technology-driven solutions. 

The centre’s resources will be used to scrutinise and select problems from the database and take them through robust stages of the innovation cycle, including in-depth research, testing and prototyping, piloting and building channels for scale. The centre will focus on incubating, designing and engineering affordable, energy-efficient and renewable energy-powered products to enhance the life of rural communities. 

The centre will leverage rural areas within 200-km radius of IIT Dharwad as a testbed for selected startups and innovators. The centre will also be used to impart skills required to develop and manage affordable and clean energy technologies. 

Finally, the centre will be used to systematically identify various avenues for the widespread adoption of affordable and clean energy to improve the lives and livelihoods of rural communities and create a socially and environmentally sustainable future for them. 

Read more: 

• GATE 2022 to be held as per schedule, students trend #NO_GATE_IN_FEB 
• TANCA 2021: Anna University releases counselling schedule for SCA to SC 
• Kerala Technological University students demand postponement of semester exams