Prof. Chetan Singh Solanki

Prof. Chetan Singh Solanki is an educator, researcher and innovator, currently on unpaid leave from IIT Bombay, on a solar bus since 2020 as part of an 11 year Energy Swaraj Yatra designed to create a public movement towards the adoption of 100% solar energy. Brand Ambassador of Solar Energy for Madhya Pradesh Government, Prof. Solanki has also been referred to as “Solar Man of India” and “Solar Gandhi.”  

Through his SoULS project he has reached 7.5 million families providing them clean light for which he received the Prime Minister’s innovation award. He has several other awards to his credit, including IEEE’s global grand prize of USD 100,000, first prize in Solar Chulha Design Challenge by ONGC, and three Guinness World Records. He is also Chairman of the committee of CBSC and AICTE for curriculum of solar syllabus. Prof. Solanki has written 7 books and published over 100 research papers internationally. He has 4 US patents to his credit.  

His Energy Swaraj Movement is a stepping stone towards energy access, energy sustainability, and climate change mitigation. During 2019 Prof. Solanki travelled across the world covering 30 countries to spread the message of solar energy. In his ongoing Energy Swaraj Yatra he has already travelled 13,000 km reaching over 25,000 people across 5 Indian states. The 11-year yatra is expected to cover about 200,000 kms across 28 Indian States, crisscrossing the country 8-10 times. The yatra aims to bring awareness to more than 100 crore people on energy and climate change through Energy Literacy and encourage more than one crore families to gain Energy Independence by 100%, generating and consuming energy locally, without any grid connection.