Ananya Gupta, a student of Bal Vidya Mandir Higher Secondary School in UP’s Sambhal district, always wondered about the streetlights that remain lit throughout the night in her colony as opposed to the dark alleys which are affected by insufficient power.

Ananya teamed up with her school mates Aastha Rastogi, Ritika, and Himanshi to create an energy-saving prototype. ‘Smart Street Lights’ is a prototype which will detect an approaching vehicle via ultrasonic sensors and automatically switch on the streetlight. Once the vehicle goes ahead, the light will be switched off.

The prototype has two types of sensors—a Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) sensor that will indicate a day and night time, and Photoelectric sensors that will detect movement on the street.

Another striking feature of the prototype is its ability to ensure road safety. In case of an accident, the street lights will notify the nearest hospitals and police stations to help accident victims get medical care immediately.

“We have tested the prototype and results were satisfactory. Lighting can account for 10–38 per cent of the total energy bill in urban areas. Here is our chance to save energy for future use and control the wastage of power. This project can be implemented for table lamps as well,” adds Ananya.

She futher says that sensor-based lightning is a relatively common phenomenon, and yet it has not been widely implemented in India. With the young generation focussing on environment-friendly practices, the future seems to be safe.