Azerbaijan teen girl is CEO of company converting rainwater into electricity

Suresh Dharur

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, November 29

When most girls her age are in school, 15-year-old Reyhan Camalova from Azerbaijan is the CEO and founder of a company engaged in converting rainwater into electricity.

Reyhan is the youngest girl entrepreneur participating in the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES-2017) here.

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Not surprisingly, she has been hogging the limelight ever since the prestigious event opened at the Hyderabad International Convention Center (HICC).

In her keynote address, Ivanka Trump, adviser to the US President Donald Trump, made a special mention about Reyhan’s innovative work and her passion to make a difference to her community.

Hailing from Gabala city in Azerbaijan, she came up with a device that converts rainwater into electricity.

She also founded a company, appropriately called “Rainergy.”

“Actually I got this idea from my father. When people can produce solar energy, then why not from rain? Rainwater has a huge potential if utilised in the right way,” Reyhan told The Tribune on the sidelines of the summit.

Hailing from a middle class family, Reyhan, who has two brothers, never misses her classes at school and is particularly fond of chemistry, physics and mathematics.

The device that this 9th Standard student designed consists of four main parts — a rain collector, water tank, electricity generator and battery.

The rain collector fills the tank with rain water, which then goes through an electricity generator at high speed, creating electricity. The battery stores the energy and helps in lighting up houses in underserved communities.

She is looking for investment in her company to popularise and promote the device.

“I am looking for investment to scale up my idea. I need about $20,000 to complete the project and I am also looking for a co-partner for my team and to reach Indian and global market,” Reyhan says. 

She says she is excited about the encouragement she got from delegates at the GES. She met a lot of entrepreneurs and is confident that she will find an investor to complete her dream project.

She argues that Rainergy would help reduce the CO2 emissions to 10 g per KWH during the production of the electricity using rainwater.

Speaking about her innovation, Ivanka Trump had said, “Reyhan is 15-year-old, but that had not stopped her from founding a company that harvests energy from rainwater. She has a powerful motto — light up one house at a time. Reyhan, each home you light up is illuminating the world. We are all inspired by your brilliance and hard work. Thank you”.