An Entreprenuer, Mr Ibrahim Mustapha, has stressed the need to reduce energy waste and conserve the amount generated in the country.

He made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday.

Mustapha, who is the Co-founder of Solar Imbedded Enterprise, said that the company had, therefore, developed an app with indigenous materials aimed at reducing energy waste.

He explained that “we came up with the app after observing the negative habit Nigerians had of leaving household lights, street lights and security lights on during the day.

“Leaving the lights on when it is not in use consumes a lot of power and deprives other users.

“The energy should have been conserved for companies and industries to produce goods and provide services.

“With the app, therefore, the problem of power shortage will be minimised because it has e-saving lamp holder which automatically goes off during the day and comes on automatically at sunset.”

“It has a sensor which senses light in the surrounding, such that immediately the sun rises, it switches itself off automatically.”

According to him, the major challenge confronting the team that innovated the app is gathering the materials used to fabricate the app and the cost.

Mustapha said that the app’s lamp holder was fabricated from recycled polythene bags, but the plastic processing machine used to mould the lamp holder for casting and other electrical components were expensive.

He noted that the app would not only help to conserve energy but also reduce plastic littering on the streets, as such plastic would be recycled into components for the app.

He added that “even the lamp holder we used, we had to fabricate and recycle from already used polythene bags which we gathered. We are helping to reduce the amount of polythene on the streets that cause pollution and harm the environment.

“However, the plastic processing machine which we used to mould the lamp holder for casting does not come cheap, so also the other electrical components.’’

The entreprenuer said that the research showed that about 1000 megawatts of electricity out of the 8000 megawatts generated in the country was usually wasted.

He added that the waste was mostly done in residential and commercial buildings during the day when electrical appliances were left on during the day.

The innovator said that if the app was fully harnessed and commercialised, it would add to the country’s collection of indigenous technology.

He called on government and other private investors to assist the team with funding, as well as collaborate with them for mass production.

Mustapha urged citizens to desist from wasting energy available in the country by switching off appliances when not in use. (NAN)

– Nov. 26, 2018 @ 11:45 GMT |