DUBAI Over 200 students from three schools in Dubai can pride themselves in their solar cooking skills, thanks to a unique project that is doing the rounds of the UAE.
Called The Solar Project, the initiative was launched by Dubai-based Beacon Energy Solutions to introduce young minds to solar power and its effectiveness as a day-to-day alternative to conventional energy.
The three schools that participated in the project were the Ambassador School, Raffles World Academy and DPS Academy.
Sandhya Prakash, Beacon’s CEO, told XPRESS that 220 students from Grades 5 to 8 cooked noodles in a simple solar cooker which they assembled themselves.
“Easy to build, the solar cookers employ solar thermal technology which reflects solar energy on the vessel-like box. You can cook porridge, vegetables, anything you want. You can even bake in them – and all in less time than you would using regular sources of energy,” said Prakash.
Prakash said The Solar Project, conducted in India last year, proved to be the largest solar cooking session which entered the Guinness World Records with the participation of 3,639 people.
Encouraged by the overwhelming response, Beacon is aiming to break the record in the UAE with a targeted participation of more than 11,000 students.
“We will be reaching out to more schools in the coming months and hope to achieve the target by October.
She said simple, practical and fun solutions to work with student groups make a huge difference. “If renewable energy is logically presented to them at an impressionable age, it can stem sustainable innovation and positively impact society in the long run.”
