Capacity Building Programme in Schools

Citizen consumer and civic Action Group (CAG) conducted capacity building program for school students in the following schools:

1. Selvam Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Arakkonam on 1 August 2019
2. Kendriya Vidyalaya CBSE School, Arakkonam on 18 September 2019
3. Advent Christan Middle School, Injambakkam on 10 October 2019
4. Welfare boys Higher Secondary School, Arakkonam on 5 November 2019
5. Dhanalakshmi Higher Secondary School, Royapuram on 22 November 2019
6. Government Higher Secondary School, Arakkonam on 5 December 2019
7. Government Higher Secondary school, Thakkolam on 10 December 2019

The objectives were to:

1. Educate school children on various power generation methods;
2. Create awareness on conserving electricity through behavioural practices; 
3. Explain the importance of energy-efficient appliances; and 
4. Demonstrate the use and advantages of solar energy. 

In all the programmes, students from class 7 to 12 participated. Balaji, Researcher, CAG and Dhivya Purushoth, ECC Engineer, CAG made presentations on energy efficiency, energy conservation, renewable energy and demonstrated the working of solar energy through a lighting system. 

Image 1: Students presented at Dhanalakshmi Higher Secondary School, Royapuram

Image 2: Students presented at Kendriya Vidyalaya CBSE School

CAG team members explained how electricity is generated and transmitted to our household system, the differences between the renewable and non-renewable source of power generation, and disadvantages and impact of non-renewable power generation on the environment. 

Presenters Balaji and Dhivya quizzed students on energy conservation included a) turning off the appliances when not in use b) using LED bulbs c) switch off the plug points etc. Then the energy conservation on lights, fans, air conditioners, refrigerators, television, washing machines and water heater were discussed. 

Discussions around energy conservation include:

1. Cleaning up the lampshade to get the maximum amount of brightness from the lights and advised to use downward facing lamps;

2. Cleaning up the blades of the fans at regular intervals;

3. Set the temperature of air conditioners between 24-degree Celsius to 26-degree Celsius.

4. Leaving some space around the refrigerator for the air circulation and not to overload or under load the refrigerator, regular defrosting etc.;

5. Switching off the television, set-top boxes and water heaters when it is not in use to avoid the standby mode power consumption; and

6. Not to charge the mobiles after 100% since it may affect the life of the battery.

The students were taught about the BEE star rating system and its relationship to  energy-efficient appliances. The presenters also spoke about the parameters to be checked in the star rating label while buying. The training also explained the relationship between the amount of power consumed by an old incandescent bulb and energy-efficient LED bulbs, old fans and Brushless DC fans, low star rated appliances and 5 star rated appliances. 

In the next session, the students were taught about various renewable sources of power and their benefits. The contribution of the renewable energy sector and its installed capacity in India was discussed. 

Image 4: Balaji demonstrating the working of solar 

 Finally, the working of solar energy was demonstrated with the help of a led bulb lighting system. The solar demonstration system comprises - a 20 watts solar panel, 12 volts, 7 Ah battery, charge controller and 2 watts DC LED bulb. The procedure for installing the rooftop solar system at household was explained in detail. The differences between on-grid system and off-grid system, unidirectional meter and bi-directional meter were also imparted. 

Some of the questions posed by the students included: 

• purchase of solar panels, 
• electricity bills and solar panel (do we pay more for electricity?), 
• if it will get affected during rain or by lighting or by thunder, 
• solar panels maintenance, 
• approximate cost for installation. 

The students gave positive feedback about the session.

Image 5: Students interacting during the session