Three students invent portable solar charger

Bright minds: (From left) Kirthigaraj, Muhammad Arif and Dhivyesh with their Green Charging Station.

JOHOR BARU: The thought that their fellow students in rural homes could not study at night, as they were without power supply, got them into action.

“We wanted to find a way to make electricity available to everyone, especially students in rural areas, and we want to do so in a way that is environmentally friendly,” said S. Dhivyesh Kumar of SMK Taman Mutiara Rini 2.

Together with N. Kirthigaraj and Muhammad Arif Farhan Halizan, these three 14-year-old young inventors came out with a Green Charging Station that operates on solar energy.

Their invention won a gold medal in the World Young Inventors Exhibition (WYIE) in the environment category, beating 78 other inventions from countries such as Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Qatar.

The competition was held in Kuala Lumpur on May 4. It was organised by the International Invention, Innovation and Technology Exhibition Malaysia.

“We also hope that this invention will be helpful to campers who need a source of energy when they are out in the woods,” said Dhivyesh.

He explained that the charging station is operated by a 10-watt solar panel. It can produce up to 23V of energy.

“The station also contains an energy inverter, solar charge regulator, USB ports and a rechargeable lead-acid battery to store energy so that the station could also be used when there is no sunlight.

“We have attached a small fan and a table lamp on top of the station that could be used as a portable study table for students,” he said, adding that the outer frame of the charging station is made of recycled wood.

The project, he said, took them about two months.

Dhivyesh said he and his teammates would meet every weekend either at his house or at school to work on the invention.

“We started working on the project in early February. Our parents were very supportive. They tried to help us as much as they could.

“They forked out the money to buy all the items we needed to run the station,” he said, adding that the cost of the materials for the invention was about RM200.

Teacher N. Dubashini said she was proud of her students and was impressed with their commitment and hard work.

“The confidence they showed while presenting to the judges was impressive,” she said.