The University of the South Pacific’s engineering faculty has acquired a patent for a solar energy device.

Two staff and a student of the University of the South Pacific’s (USP) School of Engineering and Physics (SEP), officially received a patent for their invention of a ‘Portable Wave-Solar Energy Harvesting Device’ by Intellectual Property (IP) Australia.

Lecturers, Dr F M Rabiul Islam and Dr Kabir Mamun, and student Shaneel Prakash invented the portable device, which presents the concept of a low cost wave-solar generation for Pacific Island Countries.

The ‘Portable Wave-Solar Energy Harvesting Device’ is a simple self-contained system, which can be deployed off-shore and useful in situations where there is no supply of electricity within the coastal area.

The main purpose of this device is to provide electricity for lighting and other low powered equipment of on shore community or fisherman boat.

Most of the parts for the construction of the device are available locally.

The device is a single unit containing all the mechanisms in an average sized barrel that operates with surging and heaving motion of the waves. The system’s main components are floaters, gears, flywheel, electric generator, solar panel, storage device, and control with communication system.

According to Dr Islam, “There exists, several methods of extracting energy from the ocean waves but most of them are very expensive, oversized and not portable.  In this situation this ‘Portable Wave-Solar Energy Harvesting Device’ could be the solution for low cost and affordable system for Pacific Islands.”

Source: University of the South Pacific

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