Introduction
Sustainable infrastructure development is essential for the economic growth and well-being of humanity. IIT Jodhpur intends to provide solutions to the acute problems that humankind is facing due to the gradual depletion of the earth's fossil fuel resources. Exploring the role of renewable energy in urban and rural infrastructure development is the central theme. IIT Jodhpur is located in Jodhpur, the sun city of India. Hence harnessing solar energy to generate power is one of the primary objectives of this Center. IIT Jodhpur has earmarked a 200 acre land on its permanent campus for creating a solar park, comprising various technologies under one roof. A cluster of R&D labs for solar thermal research shall be established in this solar park under the Research grant obtained from the MNRE (Government of India). An international centre for solar energy technologies is planned to be set up on the IIT Jodhpur campus with the technical assistance grant from ADB (Asian Development Bank) for capacity and capability building and for promoting innovation and entrepreneurship. Currently Masters and Ph.D programs in Energy have commenced since July 2011.
Collaborations:
Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) have been signed with AREVA, CEA France, Indian Oil Limited, BHEL, Thermax, NFTDC-Hyderabad. Academic and Research collaboration agreements with the University of Waterloo, University of California, Merced, University of Western Ontario, URV Tarragona, Spain have also been signed.
Associated Faculty:
Dr. Meenu Chhabra: (i) Biofuels and (ii) Microbial fuel cells
Dr. S. Harinipriya: (i)High temperature coatings (ii) Flexible thermocells (iii) Storage technologies for PV and CSP (v) performance testing and characterisation of Electrochemical power sources
Dr. Rakesh K. Sharma: (i) Hydrogen production from water using Photo-catalyst, (ii) Plastic electronics that consist of Flexible substrate PV, Organic thin film transistors, (iii) Materials for solar water desalination (iv) Solar allied technologies.
Dr. Laltu Chandra: (i) Heat Exchanger Design and - Receiver Design, in addition to Air/air-water cooled condenser and (ii) Passive cooling system design
Dr. B. Ravindra: (i) Reliability of solar plants (ii) Solar supply chains and Energy Policy (iii) Smart actuator design
Prof. Rajeev Shekhar, IIT Kanpur: (i) Solar furnaces (ii) Solar thermal Engineering (iii) Coatings and material science
Dr. Rahul Chhibber, IIT Jodhpur: (i) Manufacturing (ii) Materials Processing for Energy applications (iii) Coatings and material science (iV) Structural Integrity assessment (v) Damage Mechanics
Conferences and Workshops:
International Center for Application of Solar Energy Technologies (ICASET)