Mr. Harshit Vallecha is a PhD candidate at Rajendra Mishra School of Engineering Entrepreneurship, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, West Bengal. His research is focused on evaluating decentralized renewable energy (DRE) systems in order to develop a sustainable energy-access framework for energy-deprived communities. The objectives of his research are largely aligned to Sustainable Development Goals: SDG-7 (Affordable and Clean Energy); and SDG-13 (Climate Change).

Mr. Vallecha completed his MTech in power electronics and drives from the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Kurukshetra, and his BTech in electrical engineering from Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra. In 2017, he received the prestigious POSOCO Power Systems Award for his research on solar and wind farm inverters.

Mr. Vallecha has worked for various R & D projects funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Government of India. He has authored multiple research articles in reputed journals like Elsevier Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews and has presented papers at international conferences. At two of these conferences, his paper was adjudged the best.

Through the Fulbright fellowship, Mr. Vallecha is investigating the global practices in the deployment of DRE systems in order to ensure last-mile energy access to off-grid communities. The project aims to develop an integrated planning and policy framework to provide clean and reliable electricity access to rural and remote households in India. This framework may have potential applications in other countries which are similarly struggling with the issues of poor electricity access and adverse climate change.