The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-CMERI) in Durgapur has created the world’s largest solar tree that has earned a place in the Guinness World Records (GWR) recently.

The installation used to convert solar energy into electricity has been installed at the Centre of Excellence for Farm Machinery in Ludhiana, Punjab and is officially certified by GWR as the largest solar tree in the world.

The total solar PV panel surface area is 309.83 sq.m in this installation, surpassing the previous record of 67 sq.m. The installed capacity of the solar tree is 53.6 kWp (kilowatts peak) with a capacity to generate 160-200 units per day of clean and green power.

CSIR-CMERI director Harish Hirani said, “It gives us immense pleasure to announce a slew of innovative applications that will follow the solar tree. Being part of the Guinness World Records as the largest solar tree is definitely a feather in the cap and a booster for all the scientists who have worked on the project.”

Hirani added that these solar trees have wide applications such as distributed power generation to cater to the needs of different integrated farming activities like charging e- tractors; e-power tillers and EV charging stations; running agriculture pumps for irrigation needs; solar based cooking system for food preparation needs at the farm site; and powering the cold storage needs of farm produce to increase shelf life.

Hirani elaborated on the various innovative technologies the solar tree will help power:

— Biomass insulation cold storage: This technology works out to be cost effective yet easy to manufacture. The peculiarity of this technology is that the cold storage is manufactured using dried biomass which has very good thermal insulation properties. The cold storage developed at CSIR-CMERI and can attain a minimum temperature of 2°C with 100% humidity. This can help the marginal farmers to increase the transit shelf life of agricultural produce like fruits and vegetables. This technology can help maintain the balance of commodity prices between demand and supply of agricultural produce, which is not only beneficial to farmers but also to consumers.

— Islanded Solar Biodiesel Hybrid Mini Grid of 50kW: This technology helps in fulfilling energy needs of a typical housing colony or a small village. Peak load and average load profiles are prepared for different seasons and an optimal mix of Solar Phovoltaics and Biodiesel based power generators are installed, which are currently supplying power. The hybrid inverter deployed has the capability to accommodate different energy sources and control the output with appropriate switching strategies to ensure uninterrupted power supply.

— Integrated farm: The energy requirements for the integrated farm, like irrigation pumps, tractors, power tillers, motors, cold storage, processing facilities, and fish farming can be met from the energy produced by the solar tree, making it a self-sustainable energy surplus system.

The Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) is the apex R&D institute for mechanical engineering under the aegis of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The only national level research institute in this field, CMERI’s mandate is to serve industry and develop mechanical engineering technology so that India’s dependence on foreign collaboration is substantially reduced in strategic and economy sectors. Besides, the institute is facilitating innovations and inventions for establishing the claims of Indian talent in international fields where Indian products shall ultimately compete.