Project Overview
Project Description
Kheyti’s mission is to democratize access to climate-smart technologies for smallholder farmers in India. Building on the 2025 E4C project, which focused on integrating grid-connected solar panels into its existing greenhouses, this project will focus on designing a full solution from scratch. The Fellow will work on designing a complete structure for agrivoltaics with protected crop cultivation, creating a sustainable and scalable solution for the challenges faced by smallholder farmers.
This integrated technology solution will increase the reliability and diversity of farmer incomes, reduce the challenges of erratic power supply and high energy costs, and increase resilience to climate change with a renewable approach. Through this project, Kheyti aims to receive fellow support on some of the areas listed below for the technical feasibility & design components of the project:
- System design: Develop a concept design structure for agrivoltaics with protected crop cultivation. Focusing on maximising sunlight for both solar energy generation and crop growth, while keeping in mind land characteristics, including soil quality, water availability, and sunlight exposure.
- Solar technology analysis: Recommendation report on affordable, locally available solar panels (e.g., bifacial) with performance analysis. Validate energy output, crop light exposure, and structural durability. Select appropriate solar technologies (e.g., bifacial panels) that can efficiently generate energy while allowing sufficient light for crops.
- Greenhouse design and configuration: Choose and design greenhouse concepts (e.g., high tunnel, glass) based on crop requirements, local climate conditions, solar technology integration, and increased incomes.
Impact
Fellow’s contribution to this project will support Kheyti’s goals of scaling the core product, Greenhouse Rakshak, to more rural, smallholder farmers in India by expanding their product design and services to solar microgrids. In 2023, Kheyti’s work with the E4C Fellow contributed to scaling the impact from 1000 farmers to 3000 farmers. Kheyti is currently serving 7000 farmers in 7 states across India. In five years, they will reach and impact 50,000 people in 10,000 farmer families. One of the goals is to reach more beneficiaries, support farmers in their transition to climate-smart farming and access to renewable, affordable, and reliable energy, and reduce climate impacts on the most vulnerable communities in India, i.e. smallholder, rural farmers.
By integrating solar technology within the existing product portfolio (greenhouses, drip irrigation systems, rain tunnels, etc.), Kheyti aims to increase farmer’s income by up to $1,000+ per year, through improved agriculture, energy cost savings, and surplus income from local microgrids, increase the stability of food and energy, two key components of rural livelihoods, and reduce the carbon footprint of smallholder farming, contributing to a more sustainable agricultural ecosystem.
Eligibility Criteria
Skills / Experience:
- Required:
- Structural Design and Analysis
- Energy Systems Design + Analysis
- Finite Element Analysis (FEA)
- Experience with designing and implementing solar technology solutions.
- Desired:
- QA/QC
- Manufacturing/Design for Manufacturing
- Familiarity with agrivoltaics or similar hybrid energy-agriculture systems would be an asset
Software Proficiency:
- Required: Revit (Intermediate), Fusion 360 (Intermediate)
- Desired: AutoCAD (Intermediate), Infraworks (Basic)
Discipline:
- Structural engineering, renewable energy, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, agricultural engineering, or similar.
Preferred Fellow Local Experience (All projects can be completed remotely):
- Contextual knowledge and local insight into challenges faced by smallholder farmers in India would be an asset
Preferred Timezone (when the Fellow should be available for meetings):
- Compatibility with UTC+5.5 (India), Indian Standard Time
