In 2017, a team of students from SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST) presented 10 households in Nandivaram-Guduvanchery town panchayat in Kancheepuram district, with the gift of light. They had filled bottles of water with alum, fitted reflecting panels on the caps and attached them to the roofs of the houses. With solar energy harnessed by these reflecting panels, the houses were lit up.
This year, the students are offering this gift — called “Liter of Light” — to 15 other households, with more technical finesse.
“In the morning, many houses in the village are plunged in darkness, forcing residents to function outside, in the heat. To address the problem, this year, we upgraded the system to make a portable, solar-powered light, which is more technical and completely harnesses renewable energy,” says Ratin Arora, who along with Abhilasha Somani and Zeehan Shaikh, heads the team functioning under the banner Aarush, a national-level techno management fest by SRMIST.
“We made a simple circuit of solar panels, battery, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and some resistors. The LEDs were attached to the caps of the bottles, which contain water and alum,” he explains. The batteries can be charged through the solar panels for three hours, which gives 80% optimum charge for four to five hours or two to three days, says Ratin. The life expectancy of the bottle is two to three years.
While a team of 10 students made the light, 15 students visited and interacted with the residents at the village.
