1,000 days and counting: IIT professor’s 11-year-long Energy Swaraj Yatra on a solar bus

In 2020, Chetan Singh Solanki, a professor at IIT Bombay, applied for an unpaid leave for 11 years and started his Energy Swaraj Yatra (ESY) on a solar bus. The bus has become his mobile home since then, and it will remain so until he completes his journey in 2030. On August 22, Solanki completed 1,000 days of his journey in Mumbai, covering more than 43,000 km and interacting with 2,30,000 people across various cities and towns in India. The aim of the yatra is to create a public movement towards 100% adoption of solar energy.

The Energy Swaraj Yatra is the heart of the Energy Swaraj Movement, wherein Chetan Singh Solanki, has pledged to stay and travel on his solar bus for 11 years to create awareness among people about the disastrous effects of climate change. The Energy Swaraj bus has facilities for working, meeting, sleeping, cooking, washing, and training. The bus is fitted with 3.2 kW solar panels and 6 kWh of battery storage. It has a 3 kVa inverter. Lights, cooler, cookstove, TV, AC, laptop charging inside the bus are all solar-powered. The engine of the bus, however, runs on diesel. It has been three years since Solanki started his journey.

Although he gets positive responses from people across the country, he is a worried man. Climate change, according to him, is accelerating ever since he started his journey.

The Climate Clock, a visual representation of the urgency of the climate crisis, highlights the limited amount of time left to act and the need for immediate and decisive action. It shows the time left before the planet touches 1.5 degree Celsius of global warming. “The impact of climate change is much worse now, as compared to 1,000 days back. As of today, the climate clock shows just five years and 319 days. We need ‘drastic’ and ‘immediate’ efforts to address it. No one is taking any immediate actions and as a result climate change is accelerating. It’s time we (people, industries, institutions, policy-makers and the government) took immediate steps to address it,” said Solanki, who is the founder of the Energy Swaraj Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation, formed to establish Energy Swaraj across the world through the AMG (avoid-minimise-generate) approach towards adoption of solar energy. “Climate change is an irreversible process, beyond two degree Celsius of global warming, the point at which climate change will be almost irreversible, our corrective actions will not be useful. We are in a ‘now’ or ‘never’ kind of situation today,” he added.

For Solanki, completing 1,000 days is a long time for living and travelling in his Energy Swaraj bus. He has met more than 2.3 lakh people and discussed the issues with them. “The issue of climate change touches everyone and is experienced by everyone. People need good guidance and doable actions. I got a very positive response. When you tell people the cause and effect of climate change, people do understand, people do want to take corrective steps and people appreciate what I am doing. That’s why I am not tired even after 1,000 days, and I see a ray of hope,” he told The Federal.

Solanki’s 11-year-long yatra aims to bring energy literacy to over 100 crore and encourage over one crore families to switch completely to solar energy. Called the ‘Solar Man of India’, Solanki has led major solar projects at IIT Bombay, including the SoULS (Solar Urja through Localisation for Sustainability), which helped provide clean light to more than 7.5 million families in the country. The Energy Swaraj Yatra was flagged off by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, on November, 26, 2020.

Three years ago, when Solanki started the Energy Swaraj Yatra, he decided that he would visit his home only after completing it in 2030. So, how does he meet his wife and children? “I keep in touch with my family through WhatsApp video calls every day. I meet my wife and children once in two months, normally at the events that we organise for public outreach,” he said. “Living inside the bus is hard but it doesn’t bother me. The accelerating climate change is what worries me. Unfortunately, 99% of people are not realising that we are in big trouble,” Solanki told The Federal.

A day inside the bus is challenging, but Solanki has a plan for each day. After getting up at 7 am, he comes out and takes a walk for 15 minutes. He then returns to the bus and makes tea. After the tea, he gets ready. They normally take some rooms for the members in the team at the hotels in the respective towns or cities where the bus has a night halt. As Solanki sleeps inside the bus, other members in the team sleep at the hotel. If the hotel is nearby, he goes there and takes a bath. Otherwise, he takes a bath and gets ready inside the bus only. There will be meetings and talks during the day. “People come and meet me on the bus. Meetings and awareness programmes continue till 7pm. After dinner, we sit and discuss the plan before I go to sleep. We also have a temple inside the bus, where we pray in the morning and in the evening,” he said.

As there is no time to pass, the team is always busy with meetings, discussions and administrative work. Even Sundays are not spared. “We have a solar kitchen on the bus. We cook maybe twice or thrice a week, because mostly people feed us. Our driver is a good cook. Some of the best food that I have eaten during the last 1,000 days is one which is cooked on the bus, normally dal rice or khichadi,” said Solanki, who has 2,687 more days to complete his journey.

The ride wasn’t, however, smooth when Solanki and his team started the yatra in 2020. “In the beginning, the things inside the bus were not as they are today. We made some modifications as we learned how to keep things in tact while the bus moved. After a year, the bus (my home) became complete, and fulfilled all the daily needs,” said Solanki, who coined the word ‘Energy Swaraj’ inspired by a deep adoration for the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi.

Solanki said the bus itself demonstrates the possibility of running any building, house or any institute on 100% solar powered energy. The solar equipment is good enough to run all the operations inside the bus, even during the winter and rainy season. He said there was barely a day or two when due to dark clouds there was not enough charging.

The engine of the bus, however, runs on diesel. Why? “We can convert the bus into an EV, but the charging facilities are not good across the country. And, we do not want to put constraints on us as the time for climate correction is running out. We have two people who can drive the bus. They are also good cooks. I am lucky in that sense. Normally, there are one or two other team members who coordinate the yatra. All the team members get a chance to go home. They do normally during the festivals, particularly during the Diwali. I will be alone when they all go home,” he said.

“In an ecosystem of finite resources, there must be finite consumption and equitable production,” said Solanki. “The size of our planet is fixed, the amount of water, soil, minerals, everything is fixed. No amount of science or technology can change this fact. We need to limit our consumption because everything on the planet is limited and we should distribute the production, because centralised production results in unequal distribution, which leads to inequity and lack of peace in society,” he added.

After 1,000 days of travel and meeting all kinds of people, Solanki said, “I am very clear now that government action alone, or policy-making or projects and subsidies are not going to work. The carbon-based energy has created lots of problems in the world, and a clean, renewable energy would be the solution to it. Every individual is contributing to the problem and every individual has to be part of the solution as well,” said Solanki.

“One of the best ways to follow me is to go through my online Energy Literacy Training,” he said. People can also take other climate corrective actions mentioned on the portal, which allows organisations and individuals to register and take actions. Even governments can join as partners and spread the actions to the masses. “You can also become volunteers or even join me in the yatra. We do not take funds from the government. My efforts are for the public and we want it to be supported by the public,” he said.

What next? “We want to ‘accelerate the action for climate correction’ by increasing the activities of the ESF by at least 10 times. We will be collaborating with more organisations, industries and governments in this regard,” said Solanki. “Travelling is always tough, it takes a toll on your body, but thanks to the brilliant members in the team, I am able to make it light,” he said. The bus is currently stationed in Nashik. It will soon leave for Delhi to take part in the 16th edition of the Renewable Energy India Expo (REI), to be held in the first week of October, 2023.

(If you want to join Solanki on his mission to address climate change, you can log on to es-pal.org and register.)