The Development of a Hybrid Renewable Energy - Powered Light Buoy System Harnessing Sea Energy Potentials

Abstract

Renewable energy can be obtained from natural resources that can be constantly replenished. To utilize some of these available renewable resources, this research is conducted at Cariaz Island, Alaminos City, Pangasinan. The island serves as a bloodstock development center of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)’s Regional Mariculture Technology Demonstration Center. Poachers were able to steal fishes and were not caught since the fish cages were pitch black at night. This study aims to develop a small-scale hybrid renewable energy-powered light buoy system. Its design is based on the Archimedes principle. A pump system with submerged and weighted floating buoy is present to convert buoyant and gravitational force into electricity. The prototype also utilizes wind and tidal energy using turbines to continuously charge the installed battery pack. It is anchored on an area in the island to provide light at night and send text message to the officer-in -charge whenever a moving object is detected and passing through its location. Manipulation and controlled testing to understand causal processes were executed through experimental research wherein one or more variables are manipulated to determine its effect on a dependent variable. In this study, the independent variable will be the design of the pump system and the size and type of turbines. Then, the dependent variable will be the output voltage of each renewable energy source installed in the prototype. After series of testing, SILAW can produce output voltage ranging from 1.4V – 2.2V and output current of 22 mA - 22.5 mA. These values are enough to trigger the 1V-5V step up booster to produce a constant 5V output and eventually charge the battery pack.