He wanted to help Filipinos have access to clean energy, and thought of solar energy because it is just everywhere.
Then one day, when it was overcast and rainy, he noticed that his eye glasses, which normally reacts to sunlight, darkened.
Voila! Carvey Ehren Maigue, 27, got an idea for his invention.
“I understood that even when it is cloudy and rainy, ultraviolet light still reaches us,” Maigue said in an interview.
Since conventional solar panel cannot absorb ultraviolet light, Maigue’s invention was his solution: waste crops from fruits and vegetables which converts UV light into renewable energy.
His technology—Aurora Renewable Energy and UV Sequestration (AuREUS)—won for Maigue the inaugural Sustainability Award of the James Dyson Award 2020 which was announced last week.
“Organic luminescent compounds are derived from fruits and vegetables. These compounds turn high energy ultraviolet waves into visible light. I use solar panels and solar films to convert this visible light into electricity,” he said in a video interview posted on Dyson’s web site.
The Mapua University engineering student participated in the James Dyson Award in 2018, but failed to make it to the national level.
“But I turned it into a motivation to develop my invention even further,” he said. “It was like an acid test for my idea.”
With the use of AuREUS, instead of typical glass windows, a whole building can become a vertical solar energy farm.
‘Young people want to change the world’
“I truly believe that young people want to change the world. That’s absolutely right, they should do. It is their world now, not our world,” Sir James Dyson, chief engineer and founder of UK-based Dyson Ltd., a British technology company that designs and manufactures household appliances, said in a video interview posted on Dyson’s web site.
He added: “This gives them the opportunity to solve the problems that they think are really important to solve, and it gives them confidence that they can literally do that.”
Dyson himself surprised Maigue in a call to announce that he won the award.
Dyson said: “We love to meet people who are not put off by failure. And we’ve had so many entries this year, more than ever before. And you’re the winner of the [2020 James Dyson] Sustainability Award.”
In the video of the exchange, a visibly dumbfounded Maigue could only say: “Oh, thank you, thank you. Thank you very much.”
“It really surprised me and it took a few more days before it dawned on me. I was very happy because I know that through this award, I will be able to reach more people,” he said in an online interview on Dyson’s web site.
“I’m very, very happy and excited that I have this chance,” he said.
What is AuREUS System Technology?
When he first joined the award in 2018, Maigue‘s invention was a window that aimed to utilize ultraviolet light, from sunlight and convert it into electricity.
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to create that glass, but I continued to develop the product and I lifted the concept and the technology and found other applications for it,” he said.
AuREUS is a technology that allows other devices to harvest ultraviolet light and convert it into electricity, Maigue explained.
Ii is based on a plastic material, so it can be formed into different shapes.
Sustainability
He said more resources should be used and create systems that do not deplete the current resources.
“While AuREUS aims to generate electricity from natural resources, I also want to show that, even if we want to become more sustainable, it’s not only the future generation that would benefit, but also us, the present generation,” he pointed out.
“With AuREUS, we upcycle the crops of the farmers that were hit by natural disasters, such as typhoons, which also happen to be an effect of climate change. By doing this, we can be both forward looking, and solve the problems that we are currently experiencing,” he explained.
Next steps
He said he plans to bring the product to the market immediately but also do more research and development.
“I want to create threads and fabrics so that even your clothes would be able to harvest ultraviolet light and convert it into electricity,” he said.
“We are also looking to create curved plates, for use on electric cars, aeroplanes and even boats,” he added.
He explained that AuREUS has the chance to bring solar energy capture closer to people, the same way computers were only used before by the government or the military.
“Now the same technology is in our smartphones, I want solar energy harvesting to be more accessible,” the young inventor said.
Looking forward for more products for his invention, Maigue said “AuREUS can soon become part of our clothes, our cars, our buildings and our houses.”
“This is the change that I can make for the future,” he pointed out.
10 years at the university
Maigue is on his 10th year at Mapua University, “but I will finally graduate soon,” he quickly added.
He failed to graduate on time for lack of money, he said.
“To be able to fund my schooling, I take prototyping projects and fabrication projects from different students, as well as helping people who need support with their projects and their theses,” he explained.
He had to stop his studies from time to time because “the finances would just not be enough. But that’s okay with me.”
By taking on different projects, from different students, in different schools, he was able to expand his horizon.
“There are a lot of learnings that I got, especially in terms of design, and how it would affect the user, and on the business side of things,” he said.
Inspiration
His inspiration in his career was his science teacher when he was 13.
While watching a film in their laboratory about the landing of a space shuttle, engineers doing calculations were shown in the opening of the film.
His teacher said: “Carvey, I hope someday you will be someone like that.”
“From then on, I knew I had a passion for physics and science and the desire to translate it into real products through engineering,” he said.
Another inspiration is Elon Musk, a business magnate, industrial designer and engineer, founder, CEO and chief designer of SpaceX, and product architect of Tesla Inc.
“I’m inspired by how he blazed a trail for his solution to reach the market. What really struck me is that he believed in his idea and said, ‘if you don’t want to believe in me, then I’ll do it myself.’ And then he proved it,” Maigue said.
He said one does not have to start big, you just have to start with a really good product.
He is also inspired by Dyson and his vacuum cleaner product.
“It’s these people that I really look up to and I hope that someday I will also create a difference, in the same way they did,” he said.
Meaning of the award
Winning the award, he said, is the recognition that after two years of working on it, “I created something that is good and useful to promote a more sustainable way of life.”
A “very big confidence booster,” the award “will also enable me to reach more people and hear their feedback on how we can further develop and improve this technology.”
As for the prize money, he said he will buy some equipment to manufacture his product—and finish university education.