FORMER SUVA MAN EARNS INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION
Suva born entrepreneur, Rikesh Ram has earned international attention for his innovative work in the green energy sector.
Mr Ram, who resides in Australia, has invented smartGEN, an electric vehicle charging station.
It has been listed as a finalist for an Innovation Award by the Motor Trades Association of Queensland. smartGEN is a vertical wind turbine system with integrated solar and battery storage.
In simple terms, it is a charging station which can use both solar and wind to generate renewable energy which is then stored using an integrated battery storage system. “We can put a smartGEN unit anywhere and it will generate electricity,” Mr Ram said.
“If I placed this in Nasese for example, people can use it to charge their smartphones, laptops or any other electric devices.
He said smartGEN could assist Fiji in transiting from fuel generated electricity to cleaner renewable energy sources.
“By having a number of such units everywhere, we are like a mini grid, we can have the same amount of electricity generation as the Monasavu hydro dam,” he said.
Mr Ram said he intended to work with the Suva City Council and see if they can put smartGEN units in the city for people to use and get familiar with.
“Our manufacturing cost is between $50,000 to $80,000 but we are not selling the product, we are giving it free of charge,” he said. “We are generating energy on our own so we can afford to give it for free.
“We do all these things overseas but it is time we bring it home.” He said he was looking at how they could assist Energy Fiji Limited in terms of generating more green energy.
He added if they had 500 units like this in Suva, they would be generating lots of solar and wind energy. “We can then go to any organisation and say that we can supply them with electricity at a cheaper rate then what they are paying now,” Mr Ram said.
“So, it becomes a cheaper affordable option.
“If an organisation wants to support green energy and asked us to place a couple of the units near their premises, we will place the units there without any costs but we can sell the power that is generated to them.
“In that way, we become an electricity retailer, and that is where we are making money.”
A single smartGEN unit can generate between five to 50 kilowatts of electricity.
“A five-kilowatt system can power at least two houses easily, while a 50-kilowatt system can power most of the Vatuwaqa industrial area,” he said.
The product is currently being implemented in Australia, Europe and several other places.
Mr Ram is originally from Samabula, Suva. He attended the University of the South Pacific and worked as an International Business Analyst for Telecom Fiji before moving to Australia.
He is also the founder and current CEO of Australian Electric Infrastructure and Transport Company (AEIT) where they launched wireless charging of electric vehicles. It was named by TIME Magazine as one of top 50 Inventions in 2010.