Bright Side Stories: How One Kerala Startup Keeps Homes Powered During Power Cuts

Malappuram: Most people in Kerala struggle with frequent power cuts, but Suresh Vijayakumar, a local entrepreneur, rarely notices them.“I barely feel the lights go out,” Suresh says with a smile. He runs almost everything at his home and office through smart automation. Lights, fans, a water pump, pressure motors, an automatic rolling shutter, smart locks, and Wi-Fi routers - all work together seamlessly. Managing all these devices used to be stressful, until he discovered Energy24x7, a Kerala-based renewable energy startup. For over a year, Suresh has relied on iCUBE 2000, a smart solar inverter from Energy24by7, supported by two iSTORE 160Ah batteries and two 545W solar panels. The system powers his daily electricity needs while reducing his Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) consumption by nearly half. During sunny hours, the solar panels supply electricity directly to the appliances, with the system drawing from the grid only when necessary.

“The inverter intelligently prioritizes solar energy and automatically switches to the grid when required,” Suresh explains. During last year's monsoon, a storm left 25 electricity poles down, causing a blackout in his neighborhood. Yet his home and office stayed powered continuously for five days - a true test of the system's reliability.

From College Project to Startup

The story of Energy24by7 began in 2011, when undergraduates Harsh Mohan and his colleagues at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham noticed a problem: traditional inverters consume electricity just to stay operational, and switching to solar required buying expensive new equipment. Guided by their professor, Dr. Vinod Gopal, they envisioned a device that could connect existing inverters to solar panels, making solar adoption more affordable while reducing e-waste. This idea eventually led to the creation of iCON (Intelligent Converter), a compact device that enables households to turn old inverters into solar-compatible systems without replacing them entirely.

Customer feedback highlighted additional needs: many inverters were inefficient, noisy, or bulky. Responding to this, the team developed iCUBE, a high-efficiency smart solar UPS that combines the inverter and solar conversion in a single device. With a peak efficiency of 97%, iCUBE optimizes energy use from solar panels, batteries, and the grid, while minimizing wasteful battery charging. Compatible with lithium-ion and even EV batteries, the system reduces electricity costs by 40–50% and keeps homes running during outages for extended periods, all manageable via a mobile app.

Expanding Reach and Global Vision

Energy24by7 serves more than 1,000 customers across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka, and is expanding internationally, with installations in Kenya and Zambia. Looking ahead, the team plans to enter developed markets and explore energy storage solutions that capitalize on price differences between peak and off-peak hours. While the startup has received awards and recognition internationally, the founders find their greatest reward in customer satisfaction.“When people call to tell us how our product changed their daily lives, that's the real impact,” Harsh says. Back in Aliparamba, Suresh echoes this sentiment.“It's not just about cutting bills,” he says.“It's about freedom - my home, office, and work continue uninterrupted, no matter what happens with the power supply.”

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