Hacked  By  r4dBlack

KATHMANDU: For the first time in Nepal, grade 12 students of Trinity College, Kathmandu, have successfully devised a “hair solar module” which can be used to produce electricity. They demonstrated how the concept can be used in future as a viable alternative source of energy.

A group of five students of the Trinity Science and Technology Guild led by Milan Karki and Harihar Adhikari demonstrated Tuesday how they succeeded in devising such a module by making use of copper, iodine, black hair, silicon dioxide and black chart paper at a minimum cost of Rs 3,000.

Hair solar can be directly used by exposing it to sunbeam, while for nighttime, battery has to be recharged. From the prototype, the students used half kg hair and produced 8 volt electricity and successfully lighted a 3 watt CFL bulb. Voltage can be increased by increasing the module´s size. The module can produce up to 9.5 volts in the sunlight.

“Unlike the commercial solar cell, we used moist black hair as a main component in our solar cell. We replaced the silicon bridge with a natural black hair where it serves as a main agent to convert the solar radiation into electrical energy,” Milan, the main architect of the module, said while addressing a press conference in the capital, Tuesday.

The hair fiber has to be immersed in salt water (NaCl solution) whereby the hair gets moist as dry hair is a bad conductor of electricity and when moist it acts as semi-conductor.

However, experts pointed that the true success of the experiment can be determined only without the use of silicon. Speaking at the function, Dev Kumar Shah of NAST (Nepal Academy of Science and Technology) said, “It is a good effort, but NAST will certify it as a viable alternative energy only when it is experimented without silicon coat.”

The experimenters claimed that silicon dioxide was used only at the edge as electrodes. They said it can be replaced with lead. Silicon´s efficiency level is considered best in the world.

While lauding the hard work put in by the students, the secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Shankhar Koirala said, “We should be proud of such achievements by young people. The government will see how it can be made commercially viable.”

Koirala added, “The government will give all technical and financial support to take the experiment to a higher level.” He further said that the ministry will include the new findings in its policy and program paper.