Acknowledgement

This project has been written in clear and organized way for the better understanding

and appreciation of study. It has been compiled systematically to enable one to evaluate

detail of the project. We are deeply grateful to our instructor Engr. Johann Heinrich

Malongo for providing us the required information and timely help during the course of

this investigatory work. To develop this innovation and be part of this business plan

competition. To be creative and discovers ways to help the world be a better place. We

would like to express our deep sense of gratitude for his constant encouragement.

We have no words to express our respect and gratitude towards our parents and

siblings who help up with these studies. They are one of the factors and motivations for

us in pursuing this project. They encourage us to finish this study even when we feel

down due to failure. They have not said a word disagreeing as to what we are trying to

accomplish instead they helped us in providing the materials and money we need.

Rationale of Study

Non-renewable energy comes from sources that will run out or will not be replenished in

our lifetimes or even in many lifetimes. Since most of the machines that we used

nowadays uses non-renewable energy and the supply is not enough to sustain the

demand forever, innovating and creating machines that uses renewable energy.

A traffic light that utilizes solar power as an energy source will address a number of

issues that standard internal combustion engine mowers do not. A solar powered traffic

lights will be easier to use and easily maintained. It provides alternative power source in
the usage electricity for traffic lights and conserve electricity.Solar panel is use to

convert solar energy into electrical energy.

The basic idea is to make a traffic light system which consist of electrical materials like

wires, diodes, and etc... While making a frame using plywood (using plywood for making

the prototype because it is cheaper ) and adding a metal pole for the stand. The battery

will be charged using photovoltaic panel (also known as Solar Panel). The solar output

depends on the intensity of the light. The lights are replaced by power LED’s for an

effective output of power consumptions.

Statement of the problem

Most of the machines today uses nonrenewable energy as the main source of supply,

but the supply of nonrenewable energy is not enough to sustain the demand forever.

The need for alternative sources rises. Traffic lights require electricity from power plant

(a nonrenewable energy) to function and the cost is greater which add tax to people.

The problem

The traffic light system is a very significant part of daily life. Usually, traffic signals are

used to control the flow of traffic and used to prevent traffic accidents. They are used to

regulate every driver so that everyone can move smoothly on the road. As the number

of traffic lights increased, amount of traffic accidents dropped incredibly.

Now with ever more traffic lights applied at cross roads across the world, energy costs

have become a problem, since the maintenance of such a great system needs large

amounts of energy. Consequently, LED light bulbs have been promoted at many large

cities. However, because of the large number of installations, energy usage is still high.
Disadvantages of the usual traffic lights:

 Large consumption of energy

 No power source when blackout

 Costly maintenance

Significance of the study

o Local: Reduce energy consumption and tax in a populated area.

o National: Contribute to innovation using alternative energy for traffic lights

and other uses.

o International: Usage of solar energy to reduced global warming and reduce

overall energy consumption.

History of traffic lights

 The first traffic signal

Although the purpose of a traffic signal is to regulate the flow of automobiles, traffic

signals came into existence long before automobiles were invented. The idea for

developing traffic signals began in the 1800’s, and on December 10, 1868, the first gas-

lit traffic lights were installed outside the Houses of Parliament in London. This model

was proposed by a British railway engineer, J.P Knight. It was implemented to control

the traffic of horse carriages in the area, and to allow pedestrians to safely cross the

roads.
The gas - fuelled lights needed to be manually controlled by a police officer using

semaphore arms. During the daytime, the semaphore arms would be raised or lowered

by the police officer, signalling vehicles whether they should proceed or stop. At night,

instead of arms, gas-lit red and green lights were used. Red signalled carriages to stop,

and green meant proceed. Red was used to stop, as it represented danger or caution,

whereas green was determined to be a more reassuring colour in most cultures and

also has a strong emotional correspondence with safety.

As these were gas-lit lights, there were some incidents of lights exploding at night and

injuring police officers who were controlling them. Therefore, the gas-lit traffic lights

were not entirely safe to use.

 The First Electric Traffic Lights

In the early 1900’s, the world was developing at a very rapid pace, and with the growth

of industrialization, cities became more crowded. Furthermore, with the invention of

automobiles, the traffic on the roads increased significantly, so there was a need for a

better traffic system.

In 1912, an American policeman, Lester Wire, who was concerned with the increasing

traffic, came up with the idea of the first electric traffic light. Based on Wire’s design, the

lights were first installed in Cleveland, Ohio, on August 5, 1914, at the corner of 105th

and Euclid Avenue.

At that time, it was said that this invention would revolutionize the handling of traffic in

congested cities. As it turned out, the modern traffic system still works on the same
principle as Wire’s original system. The momentous occasion of the first electric traffic

light turning 101 years old on August 5, 2015 was celebrated by Google Doodle.

The first electric traffic light had only red and green lights; it did not have a yellow light

like modern-day traffic signals. Instead of a yellow light, it had a buzzer sound that was

used to indicate that the signal would be changing soon.

Main objectives

Government municipalities frequently provide lighting to illuminate a portion of the roads

that are frequently travelled to increase the safety conditions of these areas. Various

traffic lighting systems are used throughout the world and such systems are said to

consume a bit of energy and require high maintenance (Doan, 1980). These traffic

lightings have been used to control the flow of vehicles in most urban areas (Brockfeld

et al., 2008). Traditional street and traffic lights are most often powered by electrical

systems and require a source of electricity. Most often, natural gas or coal is used to

generate power. Due to the shortage of the common sources of energy such as fuels,

conservation of the use of these sources is preferred.

There has been an increasing interest in the use of the energy from the sun’s power

since it does not require connection to a main power system and will operate even in

blackout situations. A solar powered street lightning system that is totally independent of

external power supply (Doan, 1980). These solar panels are connected in such a

manner to charge a maintenance free storage battery with sufficient capacity to light

street lights and/or traffic signals.

Photovoltaic is the direct conversion of light into electricity at the atomic level. Some

materials exhibit a property known as the photoelectric effect that causes them to

absorb photons of light and release electrons. When these free electrons are captured,

an electric current is produced that can be used as electricity.

The photoelectric effect was first noted by a French physicist, Edmund Becquerel, in

1839, who found that certain materials would produce small amounts of electric current

when exposed to light. In 1905, Albert Einstein described the nature of light and the

photoelectric effect on which photovoltaic technology is based, for which he later won a

Nobel Prize in physics. The first photovoltaic module was built by Bell Laboratories in

1954. It was billed as a solar battery and was mostly just a curiosity as it was too

expensive to gain widespread use. In the 1960s, the space industry began to make the

first serious use of the technology to provide power aboard spacecraft. Through the

space programs, the technology advanced, its reliability was established, and the cost

began to decline. During the energy crisis in the 1970s, photovoltaic technology gained

recognition as a source of power for non-space applications (Gil Knier, 2002).

(Figure 1.0) by : (Gil Knier, 2002)

Solar power is energy from the sun that is converted into thermal or electrical energy.

Solar energy is the cleanest and most abundant renewable energy source available.

Modern technology can harness this energy into variety of uses, including generating

electricity, providing light or a comfortable interior environment, and heating water for

domestic, commercial, or industrial use.

There are several ways to harness solar energy: photovoltaic (also called solar electric),

solar heating and cooling, concentrating solar power (typically built at utility-scale), and

passive solar.

The first three are active solar systems, which uses mechanical or electrical devices

that convert the sun’s heat or light to another form of usable energy. Passive solar

buildings are designed and oriented to collect, store, and distribute the heat energy from
sunlight to maintain the comfort of the occupants without the use of moving parts or

electronics.

Solar energy is a flexible energy technology: solar power plants can be built as

distributed generation (located at or near the point of use) or as a central-station, utility-

scale solar power plant (similar to traditional power plants). Some utility-scale solar

plants can store the energy they produce for use after the sun sets.

This paper examines the possibility of deploying a solar and wind traffic lights to save

costs and conserve such fuels.

MATERIALS

(Figure 1.1 ) Solar panel -Solar panels are those devices which are used to absorb the

sun's rays and convert them into electricity or heat. This solar panel has

(Figure 1.2 ) Metal Stand – stand that holds the Solar power Traffic light.
(Figure 1.3 ) Traffic light system - system that operates the traffic light which is

responsible of the changing patterns of the lights every 1 minute.

(Figure 1.4) 12Volt Battery – use as the source of the traffic lights
(Figure 1.5) A charge controller or charge regulator - is basically a voltage and/or

current regulator to keep batteries from overcharging. It regulates the voltage and

current coming from the solar panels going to the battery. Most "12 volt" panels put out

about 16 to 20 volts, so if there is no regulation the batteries will be damaged from

overcharging. Most batteries need around 14 to 14.5 volts to get fully charged (Northern

Arizona WIND & SUN, INC. [US]).

(Figure 1.6) Wiring- the aggregate of wires in a lighting system

(Figure 1.7) Plastics - to make the light from the LED be Red, Yellow and Green.
(Figure 1.8) LED Lights – a 12 volts Led lights used under the housing.

(Figure 1.9) Plywood – 14 in. by 5 in. of plywood that houses the 3 Led lights in the

traffic lights.
TIMELINE

The table shows the time that the researchers made the certain part of the traffic light

prototype.

ACTIVITY DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY 4 DAY 5 DAY 6

Gathering

materials

Creating

the traffic

light circuit

Making

the box for

the lights

Testing

the time

duration of

the lights

Gathering

of Data

Polishing

Final test
BUDGET PROPOSAL

This table shows the list of the materials, the quantity, and its prices.

Material Quantiy Cost

Traffic circuit components 1 Php. 600.00

Plywood 1/8 Php. 50.00

Steel rod 1 Php. 50.00

Solar Panel 1 Php. 1000.00

Solar panel controller 1 Php. 400.00

LED lights 3 Php. 100.00/per LED

Wires 5 Php. 50.00

12V Battery 1 Php. 700.00

Total: Php. 3150.00

RESULT

Our solar powered traffic light is connected to a 12V battery source which is enough to

light the 12V Three Led lights in the system. The battery is connected to a

charge controller, or charge regulator, which regulates the current to keep batteries from

overcharging. It regulates the voltage and current coming from the solar panels going to

the battery. The converted energy from the sunlight will pass through the controller then

to the battery.
As a result, the solar powered traffic light is limited only in an open street where the

solar panel can be exposed in sunlight, not under the shade of buildings. As a solution

to the power consumption problem of the usual traffic lights, our prototype is the answer

which we use an alternative source of energy coming from the sun.

CONCLUSION

The solar based traffic light was found to be an effective alternative to commonly used

traffic lights. Based on our innovated solar powered traffic light, it was found out that the

energy coming from the sun can be an alternative source of energy to run a traffic light.

Therefore we can save more energy rather than using the usual traffic lights. So in

installing our solar powered traffic lights here in Dumaguete instead of the usual traffic

lights, we can lower the cost of installations and the saves electricity. It is also eco-

friendly and utilizes the renewable source of energy very well.

RECOMMENDATION

The researchers suggest to future researcher is to use metal for the box that houses the

LED lights instead of plywood, so that rain can’t damage the casting easily. Also, to add

a wind turbine as an additional source of energy so that it can sustain the energy

needed for the traffic lights to operate though

REFERENCES

1. How do Photovoltaic Work? By :Gil Knier by: https://science.nasa.gov/science-

news/science-at-nasa/2002/solarcells/

2. The History And Evolution Of Traffic Lights

byhttps://www.seia.org/initiatives/about-solar-energy

3. (Traffic Lights) by: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_light

4. Who invented traffic lights and where the first ones were situated. by:
https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-1460,00.html

5. “Guidelines Energy efficient street lighting” – USAID.

 Negros Oriental State University
Capitol Area, Kagawasan Avenue, Dumaguete
City, Negros Oritenal
Main Campus I & II

SOLAR POWERED TRAFFIC

LIGHTS

Passed as partial requirement for ME 427

Prepared by:

Steve Patrick P. Besario

Jamel Y. Caballes
Serge Nicole T. Truno

Submitted to:
Engr. Johann Heinrich Malongo