Sonam Wangchuk Makes Solar Tent for Indian Army
Sonam Wangchuk & his team have developed a prototype of a unique solar-heated tent for Indian Army soldiers stationed in the cold and high-altitude climbs of Ladakh.
Sonam Wangchuk is a Ladakhi engineer, education reformer and innovator. You may know him because of the movie ‘3 Idiots’, which was based on his life. He has once again created something unique. In an announcement made on Twitter on 19th February, Sonam said last year the Indian Army sent its troops to locations like the Galwan Valley following the standoff with the Chinese army along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). He said “Suddenly, the Army had to send a large number of soldiers to places where suitable accommodation was not present through the winter. Our soldiers brought large quantities of kerosene which they burnt to keep themselves warm. This was harmful for the environment and it also had a threat of fire. All these reasons made me think about making a new tent for military use,” Sonam revealed that his team have developed the prototype of a unique solar-heated tent for Indian Army soldiers stationed in the cold and high-altitude climbs of Ladakh.
In his tweet, Sonam showed how temperatures inside the tent was +15 degrees Celsius at 10 pm when the temperature outside was -14 degrees Celsius. The tent has more space than the container cabins the Indian Army uses for its soldiers. It also requires no kerosene for heating purposes and thus emits zero pollution into the environment. “The design is very simple. We use the sun to collect the heat, water to store it and the tent’s insulation properties help retain it in the tent for jawans at night,” he says. One can dismantle the tent and set it up again anywhere else. It costs about Rs 5 lakh to build this solar-heated tent prototype. Sonam said, “This is the second prototype of a solar-heated tent I have made. The first one was made about 10 years ago. Unfortunately, the government did not pick up on innovation and instead continued distributing cotton tents for them”
But this solar-heated tent need not be restricted to simply military use. Sonam said these tents can work for anyone who needs ‘quick accommodation’ that is warm, heated and requires no fuel. At the moment, Sonam is in close contact with the Indian Army about his solar-heated tent but production decisions will only be taken after further testing. In about a week or so, they will test the tent at Chang-La pass which is at about 17,600 feet above sea level for extreme weather and wind conditions.
