Bai Haoran (right) and Zhang Wanlin (left) pose for a photo with a Turkish volunteer at the storage house for donations for quake relief efforts in Pudong, Shanghai, on Monday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
The new university semester has yet to even begin, but Bai Haoran and Zhang Wanlin, both undergraduates at Tongji University in Shanghai, had spent much of last week burning the midnight oil.
The reason wasn't that they were preparing for an upcoming exam. Rather, they were rushing to craft a photovoltaic energy storage power box which they hoped to donate to relief efforts in Turkiye and Syria.
The two countries were on Feb 6 hit by 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that have killed more than 30,000 people and left millions homeless.
On Feb 9, Bai, who majors in building electricity and intelligence at Sino-German College of Applied Sciences of Tongji University, learned that mobile power sources were urgently required for rescue and humanitarian efforts through a list released by the Turkish Embassy in China. Having taken classes on photovoltaics and energy storage last semester, the 21-year-old quickly approached his classmate Zhang and drew up a plan to create photovoltaic energy storage power boxes.
Later that day, a seven-strong research and development team was set up.
Bai and Zhang, both of whom live in Shanghai, were responsible for purchasing and assembling of the power box, while their other teammates contributed ideas to the design and compiled the equipment instructions and usage manuals in Chinese and English. They also helped to communicate with the Turkish representative for donations.
The team later realized it was also necessary to include a usage manual in Turkish. To create this manual, they sought the help of an international student from Turkmenistan who is proficient in Turkish.
Though portable power boxes are readily available in the market, Bai said the power box they have created is different as they are tailor-made for the situation — the power, capacity, size and other parameters were determined based on the sunshine conditions in Turkiye and Syria and current disaster relief needs.
The portable power box created by the team weighs around 15 kg and is equipped with a 10-watt LED light bulb that can provide 30 to 40 hours of lighting on a single charge.
"Having this capability means that the power box can be a reliable light source for an entire night even if it can't be fully charged in the day when sunshine is weak," Bai said.
The team has also taken into account the standard interface of local electrical appliances in Turkey and ensured that the power box can be charged using vehicles, electrical sockets and photovoltaic means.
"Each module can be used alone or as a set, which meets the requirements for flexibility and portability at the rescue site," Bai added.
On Feb 13, the team successfully delivered the box to a gathering point for donations of relief supplies in the city's Pudong New Area.
"We felt very touched by the sight of Chinese and Turkish national flags at the storage house," Bai said. "It made us realize what a common community for mankind really means."
https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202302/15/WS63ec8c03a31057c47ebaef56_1.html
