Lighting off-grid communities using E-waste and glass

Abstract

The work for the execution of this thesis was guided by the motivation to understand the magnitude of the problem and the implications for people living in developing countries, who don't enjoy basic access to energy services. Bringing together the knowledge acquired in Renewable Energy Systems and the core competencies in Electronics Engineering, it was an understandable choice to investigate the possibility to design an electronic device, which would be able to respond to a basic need, lighting a bulb, in a practical, economical and eco-friendly way. The sense of one purpose should not be measured only by the results, as it is not because the results are not as hoped for, that the attempt was not worth the effort, as long as the underlying assumptions were sensible and testable. In the present case, in consideration of the properties of photosensitive semiconductor pn-junction, it was assumed that LEDs – as semiconductor light detectors – could generate enough power for lighting a light bulb. The series of tests performed by exposing various LEDs in different configurations to the sunlight, show that the current output is not sufficient to light a bulb but enough to trigger a circuit and therefore is not fit for the original purpose (providing light to left-aside off grid communities) but could still be developed further to give a second life to electronic waste.