BLDC technology makes devices smart yet energy-efficient, says Manoj Meena, Atomberg

"Modernizing the energy infrastructure with smart energy-efficient alternatives like BLDC technology is the need of the hour," says Manoj Meena, CEO of Atomberg Technologies.

Research reports state that India’s energy consumption will increase steadily in the coming years. To mitigate the scarcity of non-renewable sources of energy, conservation and efficiency can be encouraged by integrating smart home appliances, especially in regions where the availability of renewable resources is intermittent.

IoT enabled smart-tech products are now converting into smart choices for millennials and middle-class families. Backed up by higher disposable incomes, consumers are willing to spend more on smart devices. WIFI-enabled and Alexa oriented smart-fans are gaining popularity in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, while also encouraging consumers to save up to 65% electricity in a year. This has resulted in a change in consumers’ preferences.

Manoj Meena, CEO of Atomberg Technologies, explains how BLDC technology can make a big difference in terms of energy efficiency and smart innovation in interaction with Devdiscourse for its initiative Devdiscourse Connect.

What was the motivating factor for the founding team of Atomberg Technologies to emerge as one of smart tech industry leaders?

I graduated from IIT Bombay where I completed my B-tech and M-tech in Electrical Engineering. Atomberg Technologies was founded in 2012. Initially, we were based out of the incubation center at the campus and started exploring different ideas for energy-efficient devices and home appliances that would be the right fit for the smart homes market.

For the first three years, we bootstrapped by executing projects for various research institutes like IITs, DRDO, ISRO, and BARC. These projects were related to motor controls, software development, and hardware design. This helped us to learn more about electronics hardware and motor design.

With the basic technology fundamentals in place, my co-founder Sibabrata Das and I also started looking out for a scalable product. We then decided to shift our focus from B2B to consumer products in 2015. Based on our learnings, we had an in-depth understanding of electronics, motors, and IoT. In the course of time, we understood that many people were interested in smart tech and innovation.

We also began identifying smart homes as an emerging category with potential for growth and decided to make an existing product smarter. Understanding the need of the hour, we also decided to focus on motor-controlled appliances.

We were earlier biased about motor-based appliances, and understood with in-depth research on various home appliances that most of the home appliances are actually motor controlled like fans, mixer-grinders, air conditioners, washing machines, and refrigerator compressors. The very fact that most of the home appliances are actually motor controlled encouraged us to establish Atomberg Technologies.

Smart homes have now become a trend that includes a wide range home automation solutions. This observation allowed us to explore the smart home market and differentiate ourselves and add value at the same time.

What are the main areas of operation of your company?

Atomberg Technologies takes pride in its R&D capabilities, innovation & technology and creates revolutionary products for the evolved new age consumer. We have a fully integrated manufacturing facility at Navi Mumbai with a capacity of producing 1,00,000 fans/month and over 300 service centers across India. The sales and marketing vertical is working on maintaining a strong relationship with the Retailers/Distributors all over India and to help them get comfortable with the new concept of BLDC, due to this we have around 1400 counters across India.

What type of R&D facilities that your company looks forward to investing in?

Investing in R&D will allow us to explore and expand our expertise in mixture grinders and air coolers as well. One of the notable things about Atomberg Technologies is that the company’s health is EBITDA positive.

Atomberg Technologies looks forward to focusing more on the R&D of the motor which is the heart of all our home appliances. R&D of motors has applications not only in ceiling fans but other home appliances as well.  We also plan to set up new laboratories and infrastructure. This, in turn, will further enhance the R&D vertical for Atomberg. One of our R&D verticals will work on the opportunities where we can actually exploit BLDC motor technology.

How can BLDC technology help in solving energy crisis in India?

India is caught between its energy development goals and the environmental challenges that arise from large scale power generation projects. Modernizing the energy infrastructure with smart energy-efficient alternatives like BLDC technology is the need of the hour. Increasing the BLDC motor efficiency can significantly mitigate the energy crisis globally.

The total consumption of power by the ceiling fans alone amounts to 6 percent. It’s high time that families realize the fact that with more than 30 million units of ceiling fans being sold per annum adding to the established base of 250 million units, fans are part of the reason why the country is at the forefront of energy consumption. With the help of BLDC technology, new ceiling fans could potentially help India in saving 2800 GWh of energy per year.

Energy conservation through efficiency improvements in consumer appliances is seen as an attractive starting point to help cut down on energy waste and save money. The home-automation-systems powered by BLDC motor use a combination of permanent magnets and electronics in order to achieve the kind of efficiency and performance it delivers. As compared to a regular induction fan, a BLDC-motor fan can help in savings of up to Rs 1000-1500/year/fan and results in lower power consumption of 28W. Also since there is no heating created in the motor, the life of a BLDC fan is also expected to be much higher than ordinary fans.

Smart fans with BLDC motors consume much less energy as compared to other ceiling fans in the market. Low power consumption results in reduced electricity costs of Indian households. The main difference between BLDC and ordinary DC fans is the commutation method. (A commutation is basically the technique of changing the direction of current in the motor for the rotational movement) In a BLDC motor, the commutation is done by the driving algorithm in the Electronics, due to the absence of brushes. The main advantage is that over a period of time, due to mechanical contact in a brushed motor the commutators can undergo wear and tear, this thing is eliminated in BLDC Motor making the motor more rugged for long-term use.

In short, the need for healthy lifestyles, cost reduction measures, energy-saving, and low carbon emission solutions are some of the major encouraging factors for Atomberg Technologies to launch energy-efficient appliances.

What products or services can be expected from the company in future?

Currently, our technology is more concentrated on motor-based home appliances. With reference to the same, we plan to expand our home appliances portfolio to mixer grinders and air coolers. Such devices produce a lot of noise and vibration. By leveraging motor technology, Atomberg Technologies looks forward to bringing more stability because the motor is low in noise and vibration. The BLDC motors are basically electrically controlled motors which can have very good application for mixer grinders.

In addition to this product diversification, we also plan to tap the bigger segments like AC’s, washing machines. In short, we plan to majorly focus on energy-efficient appliances in the next few months.

What is your strategy for further expansion of your organization at national, international/ global level?

Atomberg Technologies' strategy is to provide the evolved consumer with the most innovative and revolutionary products. The goal is to reach consumers who are both environmentally-conscious and keen on energy efficiency. 

Where do you want to see your organization by 2020?

Atomberg Technologies is committed to working on the innovation and technology vertical to provide consumers with better products. Currently operating in more than 40 cities in India, the company is eyeing a 10% market share in the premium fans segment within the next two years, this will help in 2x growth in our annual revenue. In Spite of all the challenges Atomberg Technologies has faced, it has come around as a Rs 100 crore revenue model company. We even plan our growth in different cities across India to make families aware of BLDC technology.