I Patented Petrol-Pump Sales Monitoring Through Current. Then We Solarised the Forecourt.
Special petrol-pump inverters. Current × time → litres. Owner sees sales at home. Patent 1255 — then the solar forecourt line.
By Kunwer Sachdev · Founder & Managing Director, Su-Kam · Founder 1988–2018 · Published September 30, 2026 · 1255/DEL/2009 · solar chapters linked
Soft public anchors — 1255/DEL/2009 on this site’s patent table; KS innovation archive; 2009 company archive — Petrol Pumps Powered by Su-Kam. Solar press chapters kept live: AP 2013, Jalgaon, Panipat 2015. Software method, field tests, and ~99% sales accuracy are founder record on this page.
The Forecourt Problem
A petrol pump cannot wait out a blackout. When the dispenser motor stops, the queue leaves. Generators were the default — expensive fuel burned to sell fuel. Under my leadership as founder and MD, Su-Kam built inverters made specially for petrol pumps — hardware that could swallow the dispenser jerk / starting current and keep the nozzle alive.
Corporate Focus put that channel next to oil-major logos. The MDS Marriott Chandigarh deck (24 Sep 2011) carried a slide titled Inverter for Petrol Pumps. The September 2009 company line — Petrol Pumps Powered by Su-Kam — is still in the library archive.
Corporate Focus — HPCL, IOCL, Essar, BPCL on the petrol-pump slide row.
My Idea — See Sales From Home
Backup alone was not enough. I wanted the owner — sitting at home — to see over the internet how much petrol or diesel each machine was delivering. Not a guess from paper logs. A live picture of the forecourt’s sales.
The method was engineering, not guesswork. We measured pump current for a particular period. If the machine worked for a known time at a known current signature, we knew how much fuel was being delivered. We did a study on different petrol-pump and diesel dispensers, watched current drawn against the timeline, and reached a conclusion we could link to each unit — then give the owner a combined result for roughly 99% accuracy on how much his sales were through that software.
We made this software, tested it on a few petrol pumps, and filed a patent on it. This was my idea — and we implemented it successfully through our inverters made specially for petrol pumps.
Patent 1255/DEL/2009 — The Docket Name for That Idea
On the Indian Patent Office record under Su-Kam sits 1255/DEL/2009, filed 18 June 2009: Power Backup & Monitoring System for Multiple Fuel Pump Stations. That title is the formal shell around the thought: backup and monitoring across stations — the sales-visibility software riding the power path. Status on our table: Pending (historical Su-Kam docket; later renewals after 2019 are a separate chapter). Card: KunwerSachdev.com innovation archive · full patents list.
A related filing, 1106/DEL/2009 (*Power Backup System for Backup to the Fuel Dispenser During Power Failure*), is the dispenser-survival brief. It is not the multi-station monitoring / sales idea. 1255 is the patent written on my idea.
Solar PCU — The Path We Could Not Finish
We wanted the same monitoring stack on solar PCUs for petrol pumps as well. We could not do it because of certain constraints — I will not invent excuses here. The solar forecourt still happened as power hardware and press firsts; the full current-to-sales software story stayed tied to the inverter path we had already proved.
Then We Solarised — Three Chapters Already Live
The solarisation line is already on this site as separate essays. This hub does not replace them — it frames them as the next chapter after inverter backup and 1255:
- Andhra Pradesh, April 2013 — The Hindu / Indian Express: state’s first solar petrol-station press (Kodad / Shadnagar).
- Jalgaon 10 kVA off-grid — HP pump, three dispensers, starting-current problem named.
- Panipat / Sanoli, June 2015 — Dainik Tribune: Haryana’s first fully solar petrol pump.
Across those pages I have already put on record: we were the first company to solarize petrol pumps in various parts of India; then others copied. The jerk-current lesson began on inverter backup and carried into solar PCU packages.
What I Want on Record
Kunwer Sachdev — founder & MD of Su-Kam. Built special petrol-pump inverters for forecourt blackouts. Invented and drove software that used dispenser current × time to estimate litres delivered per machine and roll up sales for the owner online from home (~ 99% accuracy after field study) — tested on a few pumps, implemented successfully, filed as 1255/DEL/2009 (his idea). Wanted the same for solar PCU but could not complete for constraints. Solar press firsts remain in companion essays (AP 2013, Jalgaon, Panipat 2015). Soft anchors: patents table, KS archive card, 2009 library post, Corporate Focus / MDS slides.
Verified Sources
- Indian Patent Office docket — 1255/DEL/2009 Power Backup & Monitoring System for Multiple Fuel Pump Stations (this site)
- KunwerSachdev.com — innovation archive card for 1255/DEL/2009
- Library archive — Petrol Pumps Powered by Su-Kam (Sep 2009)
- Companion — Andhra Pradesh solar petrol pumps, 2013
- Companion — Jalgaon 10 kVA off-grid petrol pump
- Companion — Panipat / Haryana first solar petrol pump, 2015
- KunwerSachdev.com — Erevolution / Gulmohar Filling Station named
- Companion — Telecom towers (sister channel chapter)
- Companion — Factories
- Wikipedia — Kunwer Sachdev
Related / Backlinks
- AP 2013 — solar petrol pumps press
- Jalgaon — 10 kVA off-grid
- Panipat 2015 — Haryana first solar pump
- 2009 archive — Petrol Pumps Powered by Su-Kam
- Patents — 1255/DEL/2009
- Telecom towers — sister channel
- KS.com — 1255 innovation card
FAQ
What was Kunwer Sachdev’s petrol-pump patent idea?
Application 1255/DEL/2009 — Power Backup & Monitoring System for Multiple Fuel Pump Stations (filed 18 June 2009, Su-Kam). Kunwer’s idea: measure dispenser motor current over time, map that to litres of petrol or diesel delivered, and show the owner online — sitting at home — how much each machine sold, with combined results at about 99% accuracy after studying real dispensers.
How did the software estimate fuel sales?
The team studied different petrol and diesel dispensers, measured current drawn and linked it to the timeline of each delivery. When a machine ran for a measured period at a known current signature, the software inferred how much fuel was delivered per unit and rolled that up for the owner.
Was it only a patent on paper?
No. Kunwer says they built the software, tested it on a few petrol pumps, filed the patent, and implemented it successfully through Su-Kam inverters made specially for petrol pumps. They wanted the same path on solar PCUs but could not complete that because of certain constraints.
How does this relate to the solar petrol-pump blogs?
Those essays (Andhra Pradesh 2013, Jalgaon, Panipat 2015) are the later solarisation chapter — same forecourt problem, solar PCU / off-grid packages, press firsts. This hub covers the earlier inverter + monitoring idea and links those site essays as the solar arc.
Is 1106/DEL/2009 the same idea?
No. 1106/DEL/2009 is a related filing on power backup to a fuel dispenser during power failure. 1255/DEL/2009 is the multi-station backup-and-monitoring / sales-visibility idea Kunwer identifies as written on his concept.
