Pradeep Kumar from Petwar village in Haryana invented 'Solar-on-Wheels', a trolley for moving solar panels anywhere, to benefit farmers.
Pradeep Kumar, a resident of Petwar village in Hisar, Haryana, stopped his studies after class 12 to join his family’s farming business.
But rather than being a traditional farmer, Pradeep wanted to innovate something that would benefit the farmers and improve their lives. This is how he ideated installing solar panels, which are prevalent in urban areas but not in villages.
“In 2009, I attended a six-month course offered by the government about solar panels. This motivated me to launch a business to provide panel installations,” says Pradeep.
His first customers were farmers from the village who began using the panel for pumping water and other agricultural needs. Even though the business was a success, frequent theft and breakage of panels caused worry.
The farmers asked for compensation and discouraged others from buying their products. That’s when Pradeep thought of a solution to this issue, which came in the shape of a trolley.
Using the trolley or even the farmer’s tractors, panels were made which could be transported anywhere to generate electricity. This ‘Solar-on-Wheels’ idea gained appreciation from the farming community.
Pradeep has been able to sell over 2,000 solar trolleys to date for around Rs 48,000 through his company, TG Solar Pumps.
“The trolley can be mounted on the back of a tractor and has sturdy wheels that allow it to move over uneven surfaces. The trolley size can be customised according to the user’s requirements,” says the innovator.
Edited by Pranita Bhat
