Solar Street Lamps
Solar Street Lamp is not a new concept but the ability to provide real time monitoring of traffic patterns , pollution control, surveillance systems, and internet connectivity are some of the disruptions that could revolutionize the industry. UJAN Technologies intends to be at the forefront of this disruption…
Earth receives several times the solar energy compared to all the energy we consume. Even today Electricity is primarily generated through Coal which has the negative side effects of green house gas emission. There has been an exponential growth in the manufacturing of PhotoVoltaic cell making the knowledge and labor cost effective for installing Solar based solutions.
The intention is to raise 600 MM$ and make 12-15% Return on Investment by building an open source cloud based platform on a connected Solar Network Grid.
By installing Solar panels on Street Lights and connecting them to the grid we can distribute all the unconsumed energy back to the grid. by adding modules like low light camera, Motion detectors we can create a platform for a cloud based surveillance and monitoring system. Additionally motion detectors will ensure street lights are powered on only when required thus saving on energy consumed. The excess energy saved can be returned to the grid for higher profits. All components will be standardized and expandable. This will allow for low installation costs.
Providing an underground rainwater harvesting storage enables cooling of the solar panels to help it function optimally. Not to mention this could be a boon for Rural drought hit villages in India and Africa where potable water is scarce. Installing small cell facilities on these Solar Street Lights allows to sell the network Bandwidth to various network carriers. Mounting of GPS ,Cameras, Weather Sensors can enable better prediction of Traffic patterns movement of pedestrians . Storing all the data in a centralized cloud platform will also enable City planners to better diagnose and react to events and calamities.
The business will be broken into 2 lines. There will be a consultation line of Business that will provide for data analytics and will be the primary source of income. There will be the Manufacturing line which will cater to building standardized components that can be installed on the existing or new Street Lights. As the business grows consultation services will provide for the analytics needed to pay off the CapEx investment on the Manufacturing Side.
Consultation Services will be based on a subscription Model. The vision is to build an open platform for various players. Data will be shared based on a subscription plan. For weather services, data will be shared with various weather channels . Traffic analysis could be shared with government agencies and private industries who would like to get the information on the same. Internet connectivity could be provided to commuters on the highway or street using Wifi and higher speeds could be provided based on subscription. Boosted Network connectivity can be provided to Network carriers who wish to subscribe.
As all consulting services are based on data not all parts need to be manufactured and deployed upfront. We can choose to sell different parts to different cities and governments. A city that has already installed Solar street lamps may not be interested to make another Capital investment into the same . We could install the modular Motion sensors and cameras and sell them the subscription for the surveillance system..
Kiran, I loved hearing your thoughts on this and now seeing your final submission.
I applaud you for wanting to help communities. This is a wonderful idea that can reach many and change the dynamic for rural under served communities.
Thank You Fernanda… really appreciate your support during the peer review….hoping I could convey the pitch well…Best wishes for your pitch..
Thank you Kiran! I hope that we all do well and achieve our main goal of helping people. Best of luck!
The implementation of sensors as part of smart cities is still relatively small and has some governance issues to handle. You have provided a good foundation for starting to implement more sensor technology in areas that may need better water or cell technology. What is your go-to-market here with respect to audience/region? What would it take to pilot this idea? How do you ease the minds of the populace on the surveillance ability?
Thank you for feed back Lauren. On initial thought my go to market was Rural less connected areas but I realized that if I want the project to be profitable or viable it would make a lot more sense to not limit to Rural markets. This is also because we are intending to standardize each of the components. The smart cell facilities will be more profitable in urban areas.
This project can be piloted in a small size county. As a social cause there is lot of interest in Rural India for such projects.
Regarding concerns on Surveillance : This will be primarily for the safety and security of the citizens. It is going to only be in public areas (Public Street ). We will provide security for the surveillance tapes to only be reviewed and accessed by government security agencies. Data from the surveillance will be aggregated and shared with other subscribers.