Solar water heater: A creation of Prudencia Falana

Student in energy engineering and sustainable development has developed, for his final undergraduate defense in 2021, a water heater that operates using a solar energy system. Prudence Falana, a safe bet.

" In the beginning, it was just a dream, a simple desire. And as always, no one saw me doing that. But when inspiration came, I got to work and it paid off.”, can she rejoice in an illustrated publication with an image of the device, on his Facebook page, the 21 May 2021. Holder of a scientific baccalaureate (C series) in 2016, Prudencia begins preparatory classes at the Institute of Mathematics and Physical Sciences (PMSI), before cutting it short.

“I am actually interested in the production and transformation processes of renewable energy sources”, she justifies. At the Higher School of Renewable Energy Professions (DARK) from Benin, she studied energy engineering and sustainable development, a sector that meets its aspirations. At the end of his training in 2020, Prudencia Falana was required to produce a report and develop an innovation in response to the chosen problem.

Use renewable energies

" In the hospital, especially maternity wards, the need for domestic hot water is present. And given the cost of imported solar water heaters, hospitals unfortunately do not offer it, she points out. Thanks to my innovation, these hospitals will be able to have heating devices at a lower cost and at the same time participate in the protection of our living environment. » As in the health system, energy is a source of development since it is involved in the transformation of raw materials and in all economic activity.

Plastic seals, windows, sheet metal, etc. Thanks to these materials and the labor-intensive work of welders, refrigeration engineer and plumber, the design of the device was done in one month. For a total cost of approximately 350 000 CFA francs. Using a solar energy system to boil water, responds to the point 7 of the Sustainable Development Goals which calls for “recourse to renewable energies. " Indeed, they produce less pollution than fossil fuels. And solar panels produce ten times less CO2 than gas and twenty times less than coal or oil and its derivatives..

Even if its prototype is already usable, the innovator “intends to improve it and subsequently market it. » Prudencia Falana plans to “provide back-up systems to relay the system in the event of absence of the sun, refine the sensors to make them integrated into roofs and above all, make a miniature and portable water heating device. »

Michaël TCHOKPODO (Coll)