India's Spiritual retreat with silent power.

Hybrid battery provides 1MWh

Silence has fallen at the Om Shanti Retreat Centre in Bohra Kalan, India – a place of spiritual learning of the Brahma Kumaris.

Until now they’ve been using Diesel Generators to patch up an unreliable electricity grid supply. Apart from the increasing cost of diesel, and maintenance, fuel transportation to their remote location, and additional problems associated with onsite storage of Diesel, eventually the generators themselves became increasingly unreliable causing frequent power cuts and brownouts which interrupted the smooth running of some of their facilities.

Om Shanti Retreat occupies a 28 acre remote site.

The time had come to install a solar based Energy Storage System. Their installation includes a huge battery storage of 1MWh.

The design and build was completed by Vision Mechatronics who combined Li-Rack Eco lithium batteries with Tubular Gel Lead Acid Batteries to complete what they say is India’s first lithium-lead hybrid solution. It provides extended power backup time, and an alternative to diesel generators.

Vision Mechatronics says: The integration of existing Lead Acid Batteries leads to a circular approach, it adds to the life of the Lead Acid Batteries, increases the backup duration and provides the maximum utilization of resources to the end user. This solution is very versatile and can perform the functions of not just Backup but also Peak Shaving and Frequency Regulation along with Diesel Replacement.

The new installation has been configured as an Energy Saving System. Once the batteries are fully charged, and all current loads are being met, excess energy from the solar panels can be exported to Grid. This maximises the Solar Energy harvest which is expected to reach 3.1M units of energy per annum. The system comprises:

Li-Rack Eco Lithium Batteries (by Vision Mechatronics) 614.4kWh
Lead Acid Gel Batteries (HBL) 480kWh
12 X 15kVA Quattro Inverters offering 144kW
12 X Smart Solar MPPT 250/100 VE.Can
5 x Fronius Eco 27.0-3-S Three-Phase solar inverters
A solar array of 200kWp
Cerbo GX
GX Touch 50

The system was officially inaugurated with a lamp lighting ceremony

Vision Mechatronics say: The Active Balancing BMS in the Lithium Battery enhances the life expectancy and performance by around 30%-40%. The IoT enabled Li-Rack ECO batteries feature Predictive Monitoring which helps us to predict 15 days in advance that the battery will be non-functional or needs repair/replacement. With the Auto-On /Off feature the smart battery sends alerts regarding imminent failure or error, enabling the customer to take corrective action, leading to a 99% up-time.

Vision Mechatronics Pvt Ltd is a dynamic organisation headed by Dr. Rashi Gupta. Dr. Gupta is a woman-entrepreneur who is known as Batterywali of India. A pioneer of Lithium Batteries manufacturing in India she has developed what Vision Mechatronics describe as the world’s smartest lithium battery. Dr. Gupta was among Asia’s Most Influential Women in Renewable Energy in 2020.

Vision Mechatronics say their mission is to provide energy solutions that work with minimal maintenance to provide carefree power supply. The company affirms the United Nations Development Programme’s goals working toward gender equality, and are committed to providing clean energy. They also work toward rural electrification to offer better opportunities for economically deprived children.