Techno-commercial information of the product:

A report submitted to purchase committee of SELCO

SOLAR POWERED BLOWER FOR BLACKSMITHS

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SOLAR POWERED BLOWER FOR BLACKSMITHS

Background

Blacksmiths are one of the very few traditional artisanal workers community who have survived to exist

in rural economy even today mainly for two reasons:

The rural economy in India is based on agricultural production and agro processing mostly in tiny

scale or domestic units. A substantial majority of agricultural production emanates from small

and medium land holdings.

The preferred designs of hand tools used in agricultural production and post production vary

considerably from region to region making it difficult for industrial mass manufacturers to

penetrate to all areas equally.

But the major issues faced by blacksmiths are:

Low income, low productivity and labour shortage.

Competition from industrial products, increased cost of raw materials and charcoal, unavailability

of charcoal, shortage of labour, additional labour cost to operate the manual blower are all adding

to the burden of blacksmiths making it difficult for them to depend on their traditional artisanal

work for living.

Hence forcing these communities to migrate to cities looking for other employment opportunities

especially the younger generation.

Increasing the income levels and productivity is an essential measure to be attempted for the survival of

this artisanal work. One of the most common issues faced by blacksmiths is shortage of labour to operate

the manual blower and huge labour cost which takes away a significant portion of their income. Due to

dependency on an additional labour and irregularity with labour turning up for work, labour has become

a major operational challenge for blacksmith resulting in loss of income. Even though there are motorized

blowers available in the market they are very inefficient (attached with 0.25 hp motor) and as most of the

blacksmith workshops are not connected to grid supply most of them would still be dependent on

traditional bellows or hand cranked blowers. Even if the blacksmith workshops are connected to grid,

due to erratic power cuts in rural areas, these blowers won’t be useful to full extent instead it further

increases uncertainty with labour planning and productivity. Hence there is a need for developing an

efficient, reliable, cost effective solution for the blower requirement of blacksmiths.

Properly designed energy efficient blower requires about 92% lesser energy for operation compared to

motorized blowers available in the market. Hence the solar powered blower solution is very cost effective

and has an attractive payback period of 2-3 months considering the additional labour cost alone thus

reassuring better livelihood for blacksmiths.

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Solar powered blower solution:

The solar powered blower solution consists of an efficient blower designed for blacksmith forge

requirement with required air flow (CFM), static pressure (mm-H2O), rpm etc. which is operated from 12

V DC source.

Electrical schematic diagram of solar powered blower

General load requirement [Blacksmith workshop]

Sl. No. Load Particulars Wattage No. of appliances Usage hours/day

1 DC Blower 15 W 1 5 hours [usage hours – blower]

10 hours [operational hours – workshop]

Sl. No. Particulars Specification Quantity

1 Solar Module 40 Wp, 12 V 1

2 Solar Battery 20 Ah, 12 V 1

3 MMS 40 Wp, 1M 1

4 Charge controller [SSR] 10 A, 12 V 1

5 DC Blower [Cooltron] 15 W, 12 V 1

6 PWM Speed controller

[EMSYS] 30 W, 12 V 1

7 Coupling pipe 1

8 Cables red+black 2.5 sq.mm. 15m + 15m

9 Consumables As required

Indicative cost: ₹16,500/-

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PRODUCT INFORMATION

DC Blower:

The specifications of DC blower is given below. Also detailed specification sheet is attached in a separate

document.

Sl.No Particulars Specification

1 Make Cooltron Indusrial Supply Inc.

2 Model No. FBD1232B12W7-81-2R

3 Outline dimension 120 x 120 x 32 mm

4 Rated Voltage 12 V DC

5 Operating voltage 8 V – 13.8 V DC

6 Power consumption 12.12 W (Max.16.2 W)

7 Rated Speed 3000 rpm ± 10%

8 Max. Air flow 38.2 CFM

9 Max. static pressure 32.8 mm-H2O

10 Life expectancy 80,000 Hours at 400C

About Cooltron:

Coolron Group is an American company that has been designing and manufacturing industrial cooling

products for over 17 years. Established in the year 1999 Cooltron has its head office in Los Angeles,

U.S.A.

Business: Fan, Blower, Fan accessories & heat sink

Global Network: U.S.A, Europe & Asia

A detailed profile of Cooltron is provided in a separate document.

About SRV Technologies:

Founded in 2006, Head quartered in Mumbai, SRV Technologies offers diversified range of products,

services & turnkey solutions. SRV Technologies has marketing & support offices in Mumbai, Delhi,

Bangalore & Pune.

SRV technologies is the distributor for Cooltron products in India.

Products & Solutions: CCTV, Access & time attendance control system, residential apartment security

solutions, Intrusion & fire alarm systems, LED Lights.

A detailed profile of SRV Technologies is provided in a separate document.

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Cost structure for DC blower:

M.O.Q less than 10 pcs. ₹4000 + Tax

M.O.Q less than 40 pcs. ₹3600 + Tax

M.O.Q less than 120 pcs. ₹2300 + Tax

M.O.Q – 120 Pcs. ₹1900 + Tax

The prices provided here were arrived at after several rounds of negotiation with the vendor. Based on

the yearly projections & commitments we might be able to get further discounts.

Formal quotation for the same has been provided separately.

Warranty & service terms:

1. Cooltron DC blower is warrantied for a period of 1 year against manufacturing defects.

2. For any failures within the warranty period SRV Technologies would provide a replacement unit.

3. As the DC blower is considered as a spare component of larger systems, Cooltron neither can

repair these units nor provide spare parts for the blower after the warranty period.

4. Due to the above mentioned warranty term from Cooltron, SRV technologies will have to follow

the same warranty terms. But SRV technologies will explore the possibility of repairing the units

with locally sourced spare parts only if the failure rates of these blowers are found to be higher

than 1-2%.

5. SRV Technologies would maintain a spare of 2-3% for replacement of failed units.

Commercial terms:

1. Lead time : 6-8 weeks

2. In order to avoid the long lead time, SELCO should provide projections on quarterly/yearly basis

and also SELCO can place orders in advance with a rescheduling window of 2-3 weeks.

3. Transportation costs (to & fro) for any replacement units to be borne by SELCO.

Safety approvals for the DC blower:

CE, UL, CUL, TUV.

Relevant certificates are provided in separate attachments.

Other warranty terms and general cautions for product usage are provided in the specification sheet of

the product.

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PWM speed controller:

PWM based speed controller for the DC blower is designed and supplied by EMSYS Electronics,

Bangalore.

Make EMSYS Electronics, Bangalore

Rating 30 W, 12 V

Speed control type Smooth control (Zero to max. speed)

Cost for initial sample (per unit) Rs.900 + Tax

Price (1st negotiation) Rs.600 + Tax

Price (2nd negotiation) Rs.480 + Tax

Warranty

1 year against manufacturing defects

After warranty period the product can be repaired

on chargeable basis.

Estimated spare component cost Rs.50/- (Actual

cost would depend on the nature of failure)

Formal quotation provided separately in attachments.

Sample picture of DC blower + PWM speed controller unit

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Coupling pipe:

Coupling pipe required to connect the output of the DC blower to blacksmith forge was fabricated in a

local workshop at Karkala for pilot installations (15 sites).

Currently SELCO Foundation product design team is working on standardized design for replication

through SELCO incorporating the necessary design modifications.

The cost of coupling pipe Rs.500/- (fabricated at local workshop)

The cost for the new design is expected to be around Rs.500 or lower.

Once the standard design is made along with material specification and drawings these coupling pipes

could be manufactured at a central location as per the convenience for transportation.

Sample of coupling pipe installed (painted black) at blacksmith workshop

Other Solutions being worked on for blacksmiths:

1. Portable blower solution for nomadic blacksmith/temporary workshops [Product development

phase]

2. Solar solution for grinding tool [Product development phase]

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Installation photos: