It was the summer of last year, I was traveling to Delhi. Since it was the month of May, summer was at its peak. To my relief, I could see some ice cream vendors on the road side, so, I pulled over to enjoy an ice cream candy. I bought one orange candy from the vendor, I found it to be not completely frozen making small chunks from the candy falling apart. As I complained to the vendor and asked him to replace it, he apologized and said that he could definitely replace it but that wouldn’t serve the purpose as all the ice cream had similar condition. He further explained that it’s a common occurrence as the freezer starts becoming ineffective after 2 pm. I had no option but to manage with the semi-frozen ice cream as I could see it was no one’s fault.

As a person working in the area of renewal energy, I always wondered although there are products for heating systems using solar power but why is there no such equipment in the market for refrigeration (using solar power) as well. But this thought was not triggering enough to do something about it, perhaps because I never saw such a technology solving any real problem. When I faced this problem of semi-frozen ice cream, it really triggered me to work towards it. After a year of hard work, I finally developed this refrigerator which can harness solar energy to run itself.

Sharing my vision and looking at my hard work, it also became my mother’s dream to make this project successful. She wanted to be the first one to buy the first ice-cream from Smart Kart but alas, I cannot fulfill this desire of her any more as I lost her in a road accident in August. But I have pledged to fulfill our dream so that she will be proud of me wherever she is!!

Due to limited no. of carts, we will launch them in Thane district to start with. We are in talks with certain NGOs who will help us in employing jobless youths for running the cart. Besides, we welcome suggestions for tying up with NGOs who could partner with us.

Currently, the ice cream carts use dry ice (frozen form of CO₂) which starts becoming ineffective after 2 pm. Also, the minimum temperature that could be achieved is -5^oC.

Advantages of SmartKart over the traditional carts:

• It can keep the ice cream frozen for much longer time.
• It can maintain a temperature of -15^oC.
• Cold RO water can be kept in the cart which could be made available at cheaper rates for those who can’t afford it which will also add an extra source of income.
• There will be a mobile charging port as well which could be used by passersby/travelers to charge their mobile phones for free.

SmartKart wants to raise funds to set up to make the model self sustainable and thus help launching following future endeavors:

• Providing refrigeration systems in rural areas
• Providing cheaper, better cold storage facilities for perishable crop products even in remote areas
• Providing refrigeration systems to rural health facilities making it easier to collect and store samples from patients as well as transporting them to laboratories.

Time Line for Smart Kart Project:

• Generating funds for 5 carts in 45 days.
• Manufacturing and launching the carts in another 45 days.

Cost Break-up:

Total cost of one SmartKart is Rs. 1,00,000. Following table gives the break-up of the cost: