BYU and Empower Playgrounds install electricity-generating merry-go-round in GhanaMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!! You need to
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Most children in Essam, Ghana, had never seen a merry-go-round until a Brigham Young University-led team arrived to install the curious device in their village. For more than 200 children, the installation day was memorable not only because they took a new toy for a joyous, dizzy spin - or two, or three - but also because, for the first time, they lit up their school with kid power.
When he approached BYU about the project, Markham challenged BYU students to engineer a device that could generate power but would be fun, not work, for the children. To make it fun to ride, the students used a gearbox to multiply the rotation speed and incorporated circuitry to limit the amount of energy extracted from the system.
"The spinning is converted through a gearbox. The gearbox takes their rotation and multiplies it by 35, which then spins the generator and the generator is what converts that energy into electrical energy," says BYU technology student Ben Drewry.
The power generated by the merry-go-round is stored in a car battery that recharges several dozen portable LED lights that can be used in classrooms and homes. Many families have little or no lighting in the evenings, relying on kerosene lamps, candles, or open flame "bobo" lights. Markham hopes that better lighting at home will lead to greater literacy and productivity for children and their families.
"Once the students have finished learning in the schoolrooms, they’re able to take one of these lamps home with them to light their homes," added Harrell.
"We can right now have light for the kids, we can have evening classes, their parents can encourage them to do their assignments at home, and I can just imagine what it is going to be like; it’s like a liberation," says Opare.
Like many Ghanaian schools, the Golden Sunbeam School in central Ghana is located far off the power grid and can’t afford to pay thousands of dollars to bring electric service to the village, or to pay monthly power bills. On average, villagers make less than a dollar per day.
In May, students from the Marriott School of Management met with Ghanaian education officials and made village school visits to identify site selection criteria for future Empower Playgrounds projects. In addition to the merry-go-round design, EPI is also investigating designs for an electricity-generating zip line and a swing set to provide additional play and power for village schools. For more information, see Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!! You need to
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