A consortium of 12 British and Indian universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, has received a 7-million-pound grant from the UK government to build five self-sufficient solar-powered buildings in remote Indian villages. The grant is part of a new solar project 'SUNRISE' aimed at developing printed photovoltaic cells and new manufacturing processes which can be used to make solar energy products in India. These will then be integrated into buildings in at least five villages of India, allowing them to harness solar power to provide their own energy and run off grid.
The programme is part of the Swansea University led SPECIFIC Project, which recently opened the UK's first "energy-positive classroom" and revolves around a "buildings as power stations" concept.
Swansea University says the project is in line with Indian government's plans to turn the country into a solar energy leader, leap-frogging fossil fuels and to boost the Indian manufacturing sector. The team's concept of a building as a power station has been working in the form of its first energy-positive classroom on the Swansea University Bay campus.