Campus

Ring my bell

On May 23, 160 primary school students from Delft participated in an innovative project to build solar powered doorbells.
The Solar Bell campaign is an initiative of TU Delft’s Green Village which is headed by Future Energy Systems Professor Ad van Wijk.

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The common doorbell uses a transformer and consumes an average of 50 kWh of electricity per year. “The transformer is always on looking for someone to push the bell, but in reality it only gets used something like one hour during a year,” said Van Wijk. He estimates that about 10 billion kWh per are wasted by doorbells alone, which equates to less than one percent energy efficiency. The Solar Bell initiative contends that if every European household switched to a solar powered doorbell the transformer would be obsolete and two fewer coal-fired power stations would be needed.



Van Wijk explained that the classical way of thinking would call for a large solar cell to create the energy to power the transformer. But he said it’s more than just producing energy. By placing a small cell directly on the bell it conserves energy and improves the entire process.



A small company has been formed by two students to take the project forward. Together with the Green Village they plan to produce and sell the doorbells to schools and courses that teach people how to build them. “The transition to sustainable energy systems can start small and the doorbell is a great example of that,” stated Van Wijk.  

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