The most influential solar leaders are those with a mission. Unmesh Jagtap’s mission with his Ino-Group of Companies is to enlighten the lives of every Indian by providing clean and safe energy at an affordable cost and ‘Make in India’ green and environment-friendly technology and products.

As the Director and CEO of Ino-Solar Energy Pvt Ltd, Sonnenschein Engineering & Infra LLP, and NEOUNPA Engineering Technologies Pvt Ltd, or Ino-Group of Companies in short, Unmesh, with his team is engaged in diversified activities mainly in engineering, design and manufacturing, solar power, energy saving projects and products and specialty paint and coatings.

The Team of Technocrats

The group is promoted by technocrats who have vast experience working in the engineering and energy sector in India and worldwide with technology support from USA, India, and South Africa-based companies who have conducted numerous research programs in the energy and engineering sectors and have successfully commissioned projects which have illuminated the homes of thousands of low-income houses in all parts of the world as well as helped the environment through energy saving and reducing hazardous waste.

Unmesh, along with Bipin Shah, is a founder and director.

With a Mechanical Engineering Degree, Unmesh did his Master’s in the USA as a Research Assistant under the guidance of Dr Yogi Goswami, a renowned researcher in solar energy, at the University of Florida’s Solar Energy & Energy Conservation Laboratory.

Unmesh researched Experimental Evaluation and Theoretical Modeling of Solar Optical Properties and Shading Coefficients of Compound Fenestrations. He has expertise in manufacturing Solar PV Modules and as a System Integrator for designing and implementing various projects in Solar PV Power Plants, Solar Water Heaters, Domestic Wind Turbines, Wind & Solar Hybrid Systems and Energy Conservation Solutions. He has completed assignments like setting up a PV Module Manufacturing Plant, EPC of Solar PV Plants from 1 KW to 1000 KW and Consultancy for Solar PV and CSP Plants.

He has also worked as a Board Member for LUXRA India, a subsidiary of LUXRA Group, Germany, and is engaged in solar module manufacturing and projects.

Excellence Through Innovation

Unmesh states, “Our philosophy is Excellence through Innovation, and our mission has been to enlighten the lives of each and every Indian by providing clean and safe energy at an affordable cost and Making in India green and environment-friendly technology and products.”

Sharing their other USPs, Unmesh says they include

• Focus on Technology, Innovation and continuous improvements in products and services.
• Focus on providing technologies to the neediest sector of the community, which are in low-income areas or Rural areas, at affordable prices.
• Flexibility to adapt as per Customer Needs.
• There is no compromise on Quality Products even though the Market competition is forcing price cuts.
• Holistic and honest 360-degree guidance and solutions to Clients regardless of actual Business Case Conversion also help.
• “Our aim is always to educate our clients and the general society about Energy Conservation,” adds Unmesh.

Telling more about their offerings, he says they include

• Solar Project Development, EPC, and Infrastructure Projects are in CAPX and OPEX mode, mainly for industrial and corporate clients.
• Developing and manufacturing Solar Module Mounting Structures with LUXRA Solar, Germany.
• Reflective Cool Paints are manufactured in a joint venture with Millennium Solutions, USA. The product is certified by the Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC), USA, and is now being exported from India to Africa, Mexico, Colombia, and Bangladesh.
• “Our Paint has been approved and used by almost all participants in the Million Cool Roofs Challenge going over the Globe, which is a joint Project by the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program (K-CEP) in collaboration with the Global Cool Cities Alliance, Sustainable Energy for All and Nesta’s Challenge Prize Centre and supported by the World Resources Institute.”
• SEIL has been selected by the World Bank’s IFC (International Finance Corporation) Tech Emerge Program as an “Innovator” for our passive cooling solutions, such as Cool Paints. SEIL will collaborate with various Adopters from South America and Nigeria to conduct Pilot Projects and implement our solutions in countries like Mexico, Colombia, and Nigeria.
• One Group Company manufactures various Diesel Engine Parts and Fuel Rail Assemblies. It has a full-fledged CNC Machine shop.
• It offers Turnkey Projects for the complete Product Development of Special-Purpose Testing Machines for the Food and Engineering Industries, such as NDT-type Testing Machines.
• Engineering services include concept design, 3D modelling, prototype products, and special-purpose machines, as per client requirements.

Optimum Advances

Unmesh’s take on advanced technologies is optimistic. He says AI and ML are the way most companies will operate or have to operate in the future. The Mechanical Engineering Industry is adopting these techniques fast for large manufacturing or Service Units. The adoption of MSME is not that fast due to investment constraints, but eventually, as technologies evolve and scale increases, “I am sure MSME will use both AI and ML in the best possible and optimum way.”

In the Solar Module Manufacturing industry, full automation has already become mandatory for world-class quality products. As the product is too sensitive to contamination and manual errors, manual intervention is becoming almost zero in new, upcoming manufacturing facilities.

Remote monitoring of solar plants is used effectively, even for small ones. However, the way ahead is to control parameters and make corrections or maintenance remotely. This will be a great help in the case of Remote and large solar plants.

The Sustainable Goal

According to Unmesh, the objectives of the group are to carry on in India and abroad the business of manufacturing, engineering, designing, consultancy, repairing, developing, fabricating assembling, production, sales, trading, distribution, marketing, servicing of solar-based products such as Solar Home Kits and appliances, Solar Lights, Solar Power packs, Solar Water Pumps; Electronics Products such as power saving transformers, capacitor banks, waste to energy appliances, prefabricated efficient house; energy optimization equipment’s, smart remote monitoring and control systems.

The company’s goal is to provide a holistic 360-degree Solution to any customer in all the above areas by measuring, analysing, and understanding the exact Energy need and usage. The solutions should be technologically advanced and affordable to all sectors based on their financial capacity and give them optimum ROI on any investments made.

Ino-Indian Future Green Energy Vision

Divulging his future vision, Unmesh says, “Currently, we are working on some Solar Projects and researching providing Smart Power Optimization solutions for Residential applications in the USA and other parts of the World.” Future projects are in the pipeline to provide Solar Grid-Connected Systems with Smart Power Conditioning Units for big residential Projects in the USA. We are also planning a few MW-scale Solar projects in India.

Other Major R&D is going on Energy Simulation for Buildings and Smart Fenestrations, which have AI capabilities to adjust the solar radiation to the building for proper lighting while keeping the heat transmitted to a minimum level.

“In specialty paints, we have developed Fire-Resistant Paints, and our future plan is to Export them along with our Reflective Paints to a global client base.”

“Lastly, we are working on a Carbon-Neutral Resilient Farming project.” It aims to provide small farmers with zero-carbon farming solutions, which include various technologies like Bio-Digesters, biogas, Solar-Powered Prefabricated small Cold Storage Plants, Solar pumping solutions, and passive-cooled storage areas.

“We have tied up with the University of Gujrat, which has set us up with an Energy Centre. Through that, we are implementing a Pilot Project for a smart Village that will be self-power sufficient and aim for zero carbon emissions,” concludes Unmesh.