Mohali: Students come up with cost-effective model to generate power

A team of two aeronautics engineering students from Chandigarh University, Gharuan, has developed a first-of-its-kind energy-generation model using gravity, a fundamental force.

The patented model of technology has been developed by Annkit Sarkar, who is the founder of the project, and Tanishqa Gupta, both undergraduate students of the university. The model is said to be 20% more efficient than similar technologies used abroad and offers long-term cost-effectiveness. The innovative model also offers sustainable energy production that becomes cheaper over a period of time.

“We have tested a small-scale prototype for the use of this technology. We are working on a startup for full-scale prototype model testing of this technology,” said Sarkar, who holds 22 patents on a range of domains, including aerospace, power management in vehicles, lunar-based construction technology and supersonic electric propulsion.

A final-year aerospace engineering student, Sarkar has always been fascinated by the concept of gravity. “I always wanted to know if we can extract energy from gravity. I did a lot of research on the subject and found that existing models using gravity for energy generation are very complex and used resources like water or sand in huge quantity. I started to find out if weights can be manipulated for making a semi-automatic system to generate power through rotary motion,” he added.

He later checked if this process was not violating the Law of Thermodynamics. “I found that we will get 70 kW of power, if we insert 30 kW of power using advanced automation. About 750 kW can be generated using our advanced automation system while existing gravity energy models only produce about 450 kW,” he added.

For this, all one needs is a 15m tower, which can be installed at a cost of about Rs 50 lakh on an area of about 2,600 sq ft. Installing a 450 kW solar power plant required 36,000 sq ft of area and cost Rs 2.5 crore.

The two students said there was a growing demand for sustainable luxury solutions among upper and upper middle class consumers. “High-end clients are increasingly opting for eco-conscious energy to align with their values and lifestyle,” said Tanishqa.

“To avoid the adverse impacts of climate change, emissions need to be reduced by almost half by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. To achieve this, there is a need for ending reliance on fossil fuels and investing in alternative sources of energy that are clean, accessible, affordable, sustainable, and reliable. This is a great innovation by the university students. I congratulate them on this,” said Rajya Sabha MP Satnam Singh Sandhu, Chancellor of Chandigarh University.

According to a 2024 report of the International Energy Agency (IEA), electricity demand worldwide is expected to accelerate during the next three years.