VATIS UPDATE Article

Leading air-conditioning firm Blue Star, India, has announced that it will work on developing solar-powered air-conditioners (ACs) and indigenising controls and other parts used in inverter ACs as part of its collaboration with IIT-Madras. Blue Star was among 25 companies that entered into memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with 25 of the top Central institutions in the country a couple of months ago. The collaboration meant for research requirements, curriculum development, faculty exchange and student internships, among others.

“We will jointly develop several products. IIT-M has an incubation centre. While we may end up using their facilities, we will also impart some training to them. In this joint development tie-up, we are focused on developing solar-powered air-conditioners in the next two years. Also, we will focus on improving the existing product line up in the air purification business,” said B. Thiagarajan, at Blue Star. The company will also look at indigenisation of components for inverter range of ACs, a fast growing category for the company in the room AC segment.

Over the past few years, Blue Star has been boosting its R & D efforts. Some months ago, it had come up with VRF (variable refrigerant flow) IV Plus AC system, which was designed and developed in-house with the help of an international expert. A VRF system is an intelligent system that cools large multi-zone spaces with varying heating and cooling needs through smart controls.