In a big breakthrough, a team of researchers under the supervision of Chong Wen Tong from the University of Malaysia have come up with an amazing solar-powered street light.
This street light is not only environmentally friendly, but it also fights mosquito-borne diseases. The lamp model is designed considering the problems faced by people in day to day life.
Image courtesy http://www.researchsea.com/
Here are some of its features:
- These street lights are fueled by solar and wind energy.
- Solar panels and wind turbines are placed at the top of the lamp post.
- Along with these, there is a small box that traps mosquitoes. When the UV lights react with titanium dioxide, small amounts of CO2 are produced, giving it a human breath odor which attracts mosquitoes. The attracted mosquitoes are then sucked in and killed by a fan.
- The researchers feel this way they can help in preventing dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease which is quite widespread in the tropics and for which there is no vaccine available as of yet.
- The posts also charge phones for free.
- These amazing street lights have a longer life than traditional street lighting.
- The lamp also gives an alert in case of flooding, as lamps can measure the height of the water when floods occur and can send reports through an antenna.
- The lamp can work well in floods as all electronic devices are placed on top, and the rest of the lamp is waterproof.
Eight of these lamps are already installed at the University of Malaysia, and the product is now set to enter the market.
Image courtesy http://www.researchsea.com/
