Aditi Sharma

Indian engineer revolutionizing affordable solar energy solutions for rural communities

Aditi Sharma (born 1992) is the visionary founder of SunWave Energy, a startup that has brought solar power to over 500,000 rural Indian homes since 2020. Her patented SuryaBox system - a portable solar unit costing just $30 - enables off-grid communities to access clean energy through innovative pay-as-you-go financing. This breakthrough earned her the Global Green Hero Award (2022) and a $500,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Sharma's Energy Equity Initiative (2023) created India's first women-led solar co-ops in Uttar Pradesh, training 3,000 rural women as technicians and entrepreneurs. Her Solar School Program has electrified 800 schools using recycled e-waste components, reducing carbon emissions by 12,000 tons annually.

In 2024, she launched SunGrid - a blockchain platform enabling peer-to-peer energy trading between solar households. This decentralized model was adopted by the Indian government's Power for All initiative, expanding access to 2 million more homes. Sharma's TEDx talk "How Solar Power Could End Energy Poverty" (2023) inspired global partnerships with UNICEF and Siemens.