Innovation
PASIMANO: A Solar-Thermal Window
UP Visayas students named Philippine champions of the 2021 Go Green student competition
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S Biology students from the University of the Philippines–Visayas were crowned as the champions of the 2021 Go Green Country Finals. Running on its 11th year, Go Green is a global student competition searching for innovators and game-changers who dare to disrupt, put their skills to the test, and push the boundaries of sustainable and digital transformation in energy management. Team Pasimano, composed of Jade Karrie Palma and Pauline Anna Lamela, emerged victorious among the Top 3 finalists from over 100 entries nationwide. Their winning project, Pasimano, is a solar-thermal window that collects and converts light and heat energy into power and electricity.
It allows consumers to use natural sources of energy while using products derived from materials often neglected in the environment: agricultural waste. The window, made from nano-silica and lignocellulose extracted from rice husk and biomass, is able to provide energy that is efficient and long-lasting. “Agriculture is perhaps one of mankind’s most pivotal pursuits, but just as it secures the economy and ensures food security, it also takes its toll on the environment. Electricity accounts for 30% of the global carbon dioxide emissions and agriculture is responsible for 24% of greenhouse gas emissions,” Lamela shared at the beginning of their pitch to the panel. “The inefficiency and unsustainability of sources of energy, as well as the improper handling of agricultural waste is a pertinent problem that we aim to provide a solution for.”
Pauline Lamela
May 2021
90
gadgetsmagazine.com.ph
