PlaySolar leads way on resurgence of solar energy in India

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The sun has been central to the Indian community since times immemorial, but took a step backward over the last few centuries because of the advent of other ‘primary' sources of energy. However, over the last decade, and more so in the last couple of years, the sun has had its ‘homecoming' in the form of solar energy, providing India with immense opportunity to leapfrog the development cycle.

PlaySolar Systems Private Ltd, founded by Mr. Mukundan ‘Mux' Narasimhan, was conceived with the similar ideology of bringing solar energy to the forefront of India's energy mix. An alumnus of IIT-Madras, Mux Narasimhan spent a major part of his career in the U.S. working primarily in solar and semiconductor industries. After assessing the value of solar energy in the Indian context, he moved back to India and after few years of gauging the gaps in the market, he started this venture. "Coincidentally, our first project in Ghana and most recent project in Jharkhand involved electrification of un-electrified villages, providing their residents not just solar energy but also make available inclusive growth," says Mux.

Now, within a short span of time, the PlaySolar team is not only executing major commercial and residential rooftop projects, but they have also come up with a wide range of products with the intention of modernizing the way people perceive solar energy. "The philosophy behind product development has been to simplify the process of switching to solar energy for common man. We have laid immense stress on reliability, performance and aesthetics. Hence, our products, though targeted at different market segments, have been crafted for the same fluid experience," says Mux.

RetroSol, a unique UPS/inverter retrofit, helps in gaining benefits of solar energy at an affordable price and provides an easier way to avoid bureaucratic channels. AquaSol[TM], PlaySolar's unique offering in the world of solar water pumps with user-friendly features like remote ON/OFF through SMS/web/app platform, is expected to bring in an additional performance dimension through monitoring options as well. The recent empanelment of PlaySolar, with MNRE under the NABARD scheme, is testament to this uniqueness, along with the quality and reliability of the product. A wide range of other products like Ghar Ghar Solar[TM] (micro/mini grids), AtmoSol[TM] (solar powered ACs), solar powered bunkers, etc., reflect PlaySolar's versatile expertise in this domain.

PlaySolar has a unique vision of a networked series of solar products across various geographies and industries in India, whether in the form of pumps for agriculture, micro-grids for rural areas or residential solar systems for urban use, which will together contribute to a better adoption of solar energy. This platform, for which PlaySolar's CloudSol will be the first step, will provide all PlaySolar users with data to optimize how solar energy will work for them, as well as with each other to share stories on solar adoption.

PlaySolar's goals are not just restricted to solar and other renewables, but also involve automation and energy analytics to make adoption of solar energy more worthwhile. As a first step, they have come up with CloudSol[TM], their cloud-based solar generation, output and savings monitoring platform, which provides greater transparency in assessing performance of each product, further substantiating PlaySolar's claims. This platform allow all PlaySolar users to stay in touch with all of their PlaySolar products through app/web based platforms. The core idea is to enable platforms like IoT, data analytics, automation, machine learning, etc., and thus bringing in key differentiation in their product range while adding immense value to its users. Soon, CloudSol[TM] will also serve as a platform for farm automation, home automation and energy efficiency improvement, which would in turn contribute towards water conservation and energy sustainability.

The key product differentiations and future market potential has helped PlaySolar secure Angel funding of over $100,000. PlaySolar aims to keep contributing to the society through its continual efforts to bring sustainability and enabling better lives for all.