French multinational STMicroelectronics has tied up with Aligarh Muslim University to jointly develop technology for solar-powered, wireless charging stations in India, it is learnt. STMicroelectronics, a global electronics and semiconductor player, has presence in India, too.

Sources told BusinessLine that the multinational has a “financial commitment”, but did give more details. Both STMicroelectronics and AMU will bring parts of their home-grown technologies to the projects, but it is not yet clear as to what each will contribute.

‘Imprint’ initiative

The project is under the Imprint-2 initiative of the Department of Science and Technology. The first phase of Imprint (Impact Research Innovation and Technology) began in 2015.

The Centre for Advanced Research in Electrified Transportation (CARET) of AMU is implementing this project with a ₹51-lakh grant under the Imprint-2 initiative. Various projects under Imprint programmes are funded by different ministries or bodies; in this case, the Ministry of Heavy Industries is funding the project. Yasser Rafat of AMU, the Principal Investigator for the project, told BusinessLine that the project, which began on May 22, 2019, has “reached the stage of fabrication”.

Commercialisation stage

Rafat said while it would take no more than two years for them to develop the technology, commercialisation would depend upon several other factors outside the control of technologists. First, the government has to develop the standards for the industry to start manufacturing charging station equipment. Second, the industry itself should come forward to take up the business.

Rafat added that the project was at TRL-3 (technology readiness level 3); TRL 9 is the commercialisation stage.

The project expects to eliminate human element at charging stations. “The user has to just park the vehicle on the charging site; the vehicle will automatically charge.” Before the charging operation begins, the user would need to pay and will have the option to set the level of charging required.

“The technology will eliminate power theft, charging station queuing, and optimise the charging station search and charging time,” Rafat said.

Storage of electricity from solar panels is part of the project, which also has a component for training people for setting up wireless charging stations.

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