Carvey Ehren Maigue - Solar Panels Made From Waste Food | Sun Light Converts into Usable Energy from Mapua University in Manila, the Philippines
Florescent material made from rotting fruit and veg that harvests invisible UV light from the sun and converts it into usable energy wins James Dyson award. 27-Year-Old Student Creates Solar Panels Made From Food Waste That Can Produce Energy Even On Cloudy Days
A new florescent material made out of waste fruit and vegetables that harvests light and turns it into electricity has won the first ever 'sustainability' prize in the James Dyson Award 2020. The innovation, called Aureus, is made from up-cycled crop waste that can be attached to the sides of buildings to harvest invisible ultraviolet (UV) rays.
Aureus was invented by 27-year-old engineer Carvey Ehren Maigue from Mapua University in Manila, the Philippines. Maigue, who has won £30,000 to market the invention, made the material by extracting organic luminescent compounds from fruit and vegetables, like carrots. These compounds turn high energy UV light into visible light, while solar panels attached to the material then convert this visible light into electricity.
The young engineer was inspired by the fact that UV light still seeps through on dark gloomy days when there's not much sunlight that could potentially be harvested. Aureus could line the side of tower blocks to turn them into 'vertical solar energy farms' and power them for a fraction of the cost.
