Salak pupils together with IEEE Sarawak Subsection team members pose with the recently-set-up bicycle at the school’s resource centre, as part of ALP 2.
KUCHING: The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Sarawak Subsection’s humanitarian technology team recently executed its ‘Alternative Lighting Project (ALP) 2’, known as ‘Free Energy: Calories for Electricity’ at SK Salak here.
The team was co-led by Dr Then Yi Lung, the chair for humanitarian technology activities of IEEE Sarawak Subsection, and Dr Tay Fei Siang, who deployed and installed streetlights to light up the school compound at night using free energy powered by a rechargeable generator using a bicycle at the school’s resource centre.
“The main purpose of this project is to generate clean and sustainable energy while engaging students of SK Salak through exercise,” Then explained in a press statement issued yesterday.
He said the proposed mechanism is to harvest electricity using the pedal power from the bicycle and perform energy conversion from kinetic to electrical energy by using the alternator installed on the bicycle.
“The students at SK Salak can then cycle during exercising activity while at the same time charge the battery to supply electricity to the lighting during nights,” he added.
The ALP is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals initiated by the United Nations to provide quality education and affordable and clean energy.
“Now the students will be able to have better learning environment, knowledge and skills about generating renewable energy by using pedal power from the bicycles,” said Then.
This is also an attempt and initiative to promote clean and renewable energy among rural communities and educate students in a more physical and practical way, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education in conjunction with Sarawak’s STEM initiative in tertiary education, he pointed out.
For more information and past related ALP activities, visit the IEEE Sarawak Subsection website at http://sarawak.ieeemy.org.