Ever questioned how life would be ormed around you, without lights? Do you know how much light transfer science and technology in modern years? Doubtless all the week around, you heard about Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura who got the Noble prize in Physics on last Tuesday.
They invented the Blue Light Emitting Diode (LED), the technology that underwrote and are being used in smart phones, water purification, data storage, high-speed networking and for classy illumination system. For the last couple of months our team had done some study on the prospects of LED lights for the agricultural sector. The specifics and statistics we found were startling. LED lights can essentially revolutionize a whole new poultry sector with improved device circuitry, innovations in controlled biological systems and better illumination techniques.
The net energy consumption of a single poultry shed is not that much. The monthly electrical bills are charged for only 10 to 20 incandescent bulbs, which are cheap in price but consumes a lot of electrical power. Compared to a thousand taka electricity bill from traditional bulbs, new LED bulbs can be used and the electricity bill might come down below Tk 100. Based on the low energy requirements, 100 per cent electrical energy can be generated and stored from advanced solar cells and biogas plants. Though the initial setup cost is high, but in the long run it will be very cost effective. According to our case study and analysis, we have showed and projected how certain policies from the government can actually save hundreds of crores of taka yearly, just from the poultry sector using LED lights.
The project and research concluded with some very interesting experiments carried out on chickens, which raised the curiosity of many professors and attracted a lot of engineering students at the proceedings we partook. Some European scientists found that chickens raised under LED lights have better performance compared to those raised under normal lights. Certain green LED lights effects the explorative behavior of chickens while red LED lights reduces the aggressiveness and also accelerates the sexual development in laying hens. Some specialized poultry equipment suppliers from China are exporting Grow LED lights, that helps chicken to stay calm in their sheds, thus increase the breast meat production and the poultry feed conversion rates. As a result, chickens become market ready size, three days prior to the normal norm. In this way, thousands of tons of poultry feed can be saved using LED Grow Lights.
Together with S.M. Hasibul Hoq and Nikita Mahjabeen from North South University (NSU) and Sheri Jahan Chowdhury from BRAC University (BRACU), we have presented a research poster at the Mecceleration 2014 at Islamic University of Technology (IUT), on 19th September, 2014 on this topic. Our prime focus was to highlight how new innovations such as Class E resonant inverter and light dimming control system can be used to save up to 65 per cent useful electrical energy compared to normal CFL bulbs. The harmful effects and disadvantages of fluorescent bulbs along with the inefficiency of traditional incandescent bulbs were highlighted too. We have successfully summarized some ongoing researches carried out at some European countries on poultry animals; based on different wavelengths of light emitted from various LEDs.
If we look ten years back, and based on data related to trade and finance, we can speculate how vast and wide spread our poultry industry of Bangladesh used to be. For many logistical reasons and inefficient policies, the poultry industry of Bangladesh is not a thriving one anymore. On contrast to that, our research suggested how a less carbon emitting and a 100 per cent self-sufficient poultry industry, in terms of electrical energy, is possible with the advancement of LED illumination systems and innovation. If the government is keen in adopting new advancement in technologies for the agricultural sector, then a visible growth is very likely to happen within a short span of time. The way the innovators are competing around the globe to bring out the best equipment at the cheapest price, it is now very easy to incorporate them in our country.
All we need is some detailed policy framework from the government and long term strategic plans for the greater benefit of an agricultural based economy of Bangladesh.
The writer is an Electrical Engineering student at North South University (NSU)