The changing climate is making extreme heat events more frequent, more severe, and longer lasting, which is straining power systems that need to stay stable under harsh conditions. That’s why 25-year-old researcher Drumil Joshi works to make solar and wind power more reliable.

As India.com reported, Joshi’s mission is to use artificial intelligence to make renewable energy systems more efficient and reliable, especially as India is scaling up clean energy production. 

He works as a monitoring and diagnostics analyst at Southern Power in the United States, where he co-authors research on solar harvesting, wind turbine maintenance, and weather-informed scheduling for solar plants. Joshi’s focus is on strengthening the systems that keep power flowing for agriculture, rural communities, and major renewable installations as we progress toward healthier ways of living. 

Because solar isn’t perfect, Joshi set out to address the reliability of solar-powered internet of things sensors (hardware that detects environmental changes and collects data) in remote locations. India.com explained that these devices are usually in “distant fields” so it’s difficult to replace their batteries. 

Joshi’s response to the issue is applying deep self-organizing maps to help solar sensors learn sun patterns and adjust to certain cycles on their own. Testing showed the sensor uptime increased by 30%, completed tasks rose by 20%, and data transmission improved by around 15% without any additional human work, per India.com. 

His research also includes the vibration intelligence bearing reliability integrated system, an AI platform designed to help detect issues with wind turbines. The outlet said the tool studies vibration patterns using different models to help engineers distinguish between real warnings and background noise. This is especially important, as a false alarm can shut down a turbine unnecessarily, while a missed alert can cause expensive damage. 

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The report also highlights Joshi’s weather-smart maintenance for solar farms. Instead of servicing on sunny days, his team uses weather forecasts to ensure servicing is done on cloudy days to save energy. 

Similar advances across the renewable energy field are shaping solar and wind systems and contributing to clean power research. Researchers have improved the efficiency of perovskite solar cells by adding lead instead of tin to support durability. Additionally, researchers found a way to turn wood waste into carbon electrodes to power seawater-splitting systems.

Looking forward, Joshi continues to emphasize an open approach to sharing code, data sources, and methods to allow renewable energy operators to adopt these improvements. 

Even if you’re not a renewable energy operator, exploring critical climate issues can help you learn how environmental stresses (especially ones furthered by human behavior) shape energy systems. Signing up for community solar or getting your own solar panels can save you money and help the clean energy industry. 

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“India is on the cusp of a renewable energy transformation,” Joshi told India.com. “The work I’m doing — whether it’s smarter solar-powered sensors, AI for wind turbine reliability, or forecast-driven maintenance — is about making renewable energy more efficient, reliable, and autonomous. That’s exactly what India needs as it scales up clean power.”

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