Belgium
Busy with preparations for the World Solar Challenge 2007 in
This contest aims to build awareness of renewable energy amongst young people by inviting school kids to create a gadget fuelled by solar energy.
The top 30 ideas received a 7.5 Watt solar panel, battery and small budget to realise their concepts.
Winners of the 5 prizes included a street plan with routes indicated by solar-powered LEDs and a blind person’s guide stick with acoustic sensors that plot the position of obstacles, fuelled by a solar cell on a baseball cap.
Photo: This team invented the blind person’s guide stick and won the Umicore Solar Olympics Innovation prize and… tickets to an amusement park.