Taking the Advantage of Solar Radiation

While he was still in elementary school, Agung Kayon often visited a junior high school near his house to observe the activities in its electronics lab. Today, he creates a variety of solar-powered equipment.

Kompas/Cokorda Yudistira

I Gusti Ngurah Agung Putradhyana alias Agung Kayon

When he was a child, I Gusti Ngurah Agung Putradhyana, or Agung Kayon, often accompanied his uncle I Gusti Made Sana in tinkering with electronic equipment, such as a radio or television. While he was still in elementary school, Agung Kayon often visited a junior high school near his house to observe the activities in its electronics lab. "I enjoyed that when I was a child," he said. Today, he creates a variety of solar-powered equipment.

While studying architectural engineering at the engineering department of Udayana University in Denpasar, Bali, Agung Kayon became interested in tinkering with electronic equipment using electricity produced from solar radiation.

In 1995, Agung Kayon installed solar power panels on the roof of his family home in Geluntung village, Marga district, Tabanan regency. The electricity generated from the solar panels was enough to run the lights in the house. Solar power generation devices, especially solar panels, were still very expensive at that time.

"I still use electricity from PLN [state electricity company) at home. Generating electricity through the solar panel was just an experiment," he said at his home in Geluntung village.

His continues to create, making various kinds of solar-powered equipment. For example, Agung Kayon has made a hat with solar panels that generate electricity to recharge cell phone batteries, a charger for lawn mowers and electrically powered plows.

Agung Kayon buys all his components, especially solar panels and batteries, which can be easily found today in electronics shops at more affordable prices. He installs solar panels everywhere, not just at home. For example, he has installed a solar panel in the merajan, a prayer room, in his family’s house and at village offices or temples.

In Geluntung village, he has established the Kayon Foundation, a community of youths who care about the environment and technology that use new and renewable energy sources. He also installed solar power cells in number of buildings, such as in a three-story office of the Amogasiddhi Cooperative on Jl. Noja, Denpasar.

He has installed a total of 81 Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels at the cooperative. Seventy-two solar panels were installed on the rooftop and nine other solar panels were mounted on a pole in front of the building.

The energy generated from solar radiation is stored in dozens of batteries, located in a corner of a room on the second floor. The cooperative practically uses solar energy for all its office activities and is not dependent on electricity from PLN. The electricity from PLN is used only for the lights and computers in its customer service room on the first floor and their server.

"This is very helpful for the cooperative’s operations," said Ida Ayu Alit Maharani, manager of the Amogasiddhi Cooperative in Denpasar. Maharani said that relying solely on PLN would run up an electricity bill of Rp 5 million per month. After installing the solar panels, the cooperative’s electricity bill was cut by half.

Thanks to Agung Kayon’s innovation, the Amogasiddhi Cooperative was awarded for pioneering the use of renewable energy from Luhut Binsar Pacndjaitan in 2016, who was then the acting Energy And Mineral Resources Minister.

KOMPAS/COKORDA YUDISTIRA

Agung Kayon

Future needs

Agung Kayon said energy was a necessity in human life. Long before electricity was discovered, people used heat energy from fire or kinetic energy from the wind to power propulsion.

"I am making use of energy from solar radiation to generate electricity, because this solar technology is the simplest form of energy and can be found every where,” said Agung Kayon, who once attended a two-month ecology course in 2007 at Utrecht University, the Netherlands.

Agung Kayon acknowledges that solar power energy is not being widely used in the community. Solar power panels are still relatively expensive. Installing them is considered complicated, while the power generated is small. The easiest way to obtain electricity is to get it from PLN.

By installing two mini-solar panels on the hat, Agung Kayon can recharge his phone anywhere and at any time. His solar-panel hat is still a personal experiment. "The charger hat is to provoke discussions," he said.

Agung Kayon also created an electric lawn mower that he named "RuLi", a plow with an electric motor named "BaLi", and a garbage-collection wagon (cikar) named "KarYa". He expects that a variety of creative businesses will emerge in rural communities that are taking advantage of solar energy.

"Thus, the creative use of solar power energy in home industries can create new jobs," he said. At a mid-February discussion in Denpasar entitled "The Future of Renewable Energy in Bali", Agung Kayon pointed out that Bali was a tropical island with abundant sunshine. The condition can support Bali in generating electricity from solar power devices that could be installed in homes, government buildings and hotels.

At the same time, the demand for electricity in Bali continues to grow. The construction of conventional power plants, such as gas-powered or coal-fired power plants, requires enormous costs that involved big investors. "Bali, as a small island, also has limited land for establishing large-scale power plants," he said.

Agung Kayon said that PLN was still important and necessary as a power supplier. On the other hand, PLN could also provide electricity generated by solar power plants to households. Using solar radiation as a source of electricity does not produce any pollution. "We need to think together and move in harmony with the environment," said Agung Kayon.

KOMPAS/COKORDA YUDISTIRA

Agung Kayon

I Gusti Ngurah Agung Putradhyana

Born: October 29, 1968, Denpasar

Education: Architectural engineering, Engineering Department, Udayana University (class of 1998)

Occupation: Architect

Parents: I Gusti Made Budiana (deceased) and I Gusti Ayu Made Sulandri