UKM Presents Special Vest Using Solar Energy to Prime Minister
By Kuah Guan Oo
Pix from MOSTI Website
Its from HERE!!!
BANGI, 16 Feb. 2011 – Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia has presented Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak with a special vest developed by its solar scientists that is an epitome of their approach to green technology and safety.
The university said in a statement that it was privileged to present the extra sighting vest, trademarked as “ecSIGHTING” vest to the prime minister.
The vest was presented by UKM’s Vice Chancellor, Prof Tan Sri Dato’ Wira Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hassan Shahabudin through the Minister of Higher Education Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin at the end of the National Innovation Council meeting in Putrajaya on Monday.
Among those present at the event were the Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water Dato’ Sri Peter Chin; Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili and Minister of Women, Families and Social Development Senator Dato’ Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.
Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research and Innovation) Prof Dr Rahmah Mohamed, Director of SERI Prof Dr Kamaruzzaman Sopian and SERI’s Research Fellow, Dr Azimin SM Tazilan who developed the jacket were also present. Najib then tried on the vest.
UKM said the “extra” is for the additional feature of solar mosaic and “sighting” referred to the physical power of sight from the sun in generating colours for safety.
The vest is an application of UKM’s innovative solar energy technology, designed to solve the problem of conventional safety apparels such as jackets and vests used by police personnel or motorcyclists which currently have light reflectors that are visible only if the light beams fall on the reflector.
When there is insufficient light source such as on cloudy days, in shaded areas, or at night, the safety feature is almost zero.
“Our ecSIGHTING™ apparel gives an extra safety feature and other useful functions through the use of green and environment friendly technology. Embedded in the back of the vest is a solar panel with solar cells that directly convert energy from the sun into electrical energy through the process of photovoltaics.”
It said the electrical energy generated is stored in batteries kept in the pocket of the vest and is designed for 8 hours of continuous operation. The solar panel and the battery motherboard together make the innovative green technology product.
“By switching on the appropriate keys on the batteries, you can control the lights on the vest as well as the small torchlight. The market applications for ecSIGHTING™ apparel include enhancing safety on the roads and construction sites, as well as for use in areas with no electricity.”
The UKM statement said the green technology application used is mobile energy resource generation 1 where the research was done by the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) of UKM which was established in 2005.
With funding from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), Fundamental Research Grant Scheme from the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and Research University Funding, scientists from SERI had developed state-of-the-art facilities in advanced solar cell fabrication and characterisation, solar thermal systems and zero energy architecture.
“We have also built a Green Technology Innovation Park which demonstrates a number of commercial scale solar energy systems for various applications in the agricultural, domestic and industrial sector.
“Presently, SERI has over 30 patents, 4 copyrights and 3 trademarks on solar related products. UKM has also established a start-up company for solar energy products,” the statement said.
SERI also studied the social impact of renewable energy system to ensure that their solar energy research is not only producing clean, environment friendly products, but is also creating employment and income for rural people.
“Currently we are promoting the use of solar drying systems for farmers in Trengganu and fisherman in Sabah. We have also helped develop a cottage industry for manufacturing photovoltaic panels in Terengganu.”
The statement also said the PV industry generated US$50 billion in global revenues in 2010 mostly in the application of grid connected systems and remote as well as rural electricification. Small scale innovative products such as street lighting, signages, recreational and safety products make up about 20 % of the revenue.
“We want to tap into this segment of the market by deepening research for improving the solar panel technology to produce greater wattage with miniaturization of the panel and reducing cost of production through quicker processing and whole value chain control,” it added.
The jacket was developed by SERI’s Research Fellow, Dr Azimin SM Tazilan.
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