INTRODUCTION

Following the trend for the utilization of alternative energy sources, solar energy has
experienced explosive growth. Even so, at this point in time, from the point of view of economic
efficiency, the production cost of solar energy is quite high. This is why solar power sources are
often integrated with energy efficient LED lighting products. Light Emitting Diode (LED) is
being used by many Car manufacturers in their car's headlights. The LEDs can also be seen in
street lights. The LEDs are used in these two areas because it has high directivity and high light
quality. It is common to see that solar cells are placed over these street lights. But there is another
way of placing the solar cells, that is, the solar cells can be placed on the road just right below
the LED. By placing like this, one can recycle the light, which is, LED to Solar cell to LED. To
put it another way, we know only about sunlight to solar cell and from solar cell to bulb. But this
paper talks about how to recycle the light that emits from the LED in a street light. Along with
LED light recycling, the same solar cell can be used to capture sunlight. Not only this, the same
solar cell can be used to capture the light from the car's headlight. In total we have three benefits
by placing the solar cells on the street light. This is a remarkable approach that opens new
thinking.

Self-contained solar powered LED lighting systems (off-grid) work by absorbing solar
radiation in the daytime, which is converted to electrical energy by passing through the power
converter. This energy stored in a storage device. At night the controller allows the stored power
to be released to illuminate the LEDs. It is safe to say that the solar powerLED light
combination is an optimum model for energy efficient alternative lighting solutions.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of the project, the student must be able to:

1. Make a solar energy powered LED.

2. Donate the project to a community that has no residential electrification.

MATERIALS & METHODOLOGY

 An LED is a semiconductor optoelectronic device which emits a narrow bandwidth of
visible or invisible radiations (light). LEDs operate on electroluminescence (emission of light
from a semiconductor under the influence of an electric field). Most of the worlds energy can
go back to our sun. Every day we are heated by its electromagnetic rays, and plants use the suns
energy to make sugars and ultimately proteins and other good things to eat. Fossil fuels were also
once made from these plant and other organisms that relied on the suns energy millions of years
ago. Today, humans can convert the suns energy directly into electricity, through solar thermal
and solar photovoltaic systems. LEDs absorb energy in the form of electricity,
exciting electrons into the conduction band. When the electrons in the semiconductor material
drop back into the valence band from the conduction band, they emit energy in the form
of photons, or electromagnetic radiation. LEDs absorb energy in the form of electricity,
exciting electrons into the conduction band. When the electrons in the semiconductor material
drop back into the valence band from the conduction band, they emit energy in the form
of photons, or electromagnetic radiation.

Its a highly efficient process because energy isnt wasted on producing heat, which
happens with standard tungsten filament bulbs. LEDs also last a much longer time as they do not
have filaments to burn out, and because they are very small and several units are used to replace
one large traditional lamp, they do not all burn out at once. That makes LEDs a good choice for
stoplights or other safety critical applications. The visible part of the sun is about 10,000 degrees
Fahrenheit (5,500 degrees Celsius), while temperatures in the core reach more than 27 million F
(15 million C), driven by nuclear reactions. One would need to explode 100 billion tons of
dynamite every second to match the energy produced by the sun, according to NASA. This
reaction, known as nuclear fusion, converts hydrogen atoms into helium. The by-product of
nuclear fusion in the Sun's core is a massive volume of energy that gets released and radiates
outward toward the surface of the Sun and then into the solar system beyond it.

References:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZjPd5HYA4s

http://burnanenergyjournal.com/photovoltaic-cells-solar-power-and-leds-2/
http://www.explainthatstuff.com/solarcells.html

https://www.quora.com/Can-LED-lights-be-used-to-generate-electricity

http://www.techulator.com/resources/10515-LED-solar-cell-its-working.aspx

http://www.techulator.com/resources/10515-LED-solar-cell-its-working.aspx

http://www.techulator.com/resources/10515-LED-solar-cell-its-working.aspx

http://nineplanets.org/sol.html