By Dhel Nazario

A group of students from the Philippine Science High School-Western Visayas Campus (PSHS-WVC) has created a device that converts noise to electricity.

The Sound – Light or “S-Light” was created by “Team Voltage 5” composed of Grade 11 students Kirsten Dianne Delmo, Nico Andrei Serrato, Joecile Faith Monana, Frelean Faith Engallado, and Raphael Francis Dequilla.

While electricity is normally used to power up speakers, this invention reverses that process and uses sound and converts it to electricity.

Since noise can be found almost everywhere as a waste product of human activity and is unavoidable, utilizing it as an alternative source of energy is still unexplored by most inventors.

The invention won the Silver Award during the Young Inventors Challenge 2019 in Malaysia.

According to the team, they are aware that converting noise to electricity is not a new concept but no infrastructure has been made applying this concept.

When sound waves hit the diaphragm of the speaker, the magnet and the coil inside interact thus creating electrical energy. This is then stored in a power bank which could power up light.

The gadget costs only P200 pesos or $4 which was spent on the capacitors.

With this low-cost light, rural communities would be able to have access to electricity especially light to help improve their way of life. With this invention, students will be able to study in the comfort of their homes.

They said that if the device is to be placed in an airport where the sound intensity reaches up to 140 decibels, this can generate enough electricity to light a 5 Watt LED bulb throughout the night.

A larger speaker with a lot more devices added can harness enough electricity for the whole community.

The students, knowing the value of education and coming from Philippine Science High School, plan to give back to the community saying they owe the gift of education and their acquired expertise in science and technologies to the Filipino people.