Students in Purwokerto create solar-powered electric rickshaw

Purwokerto (ANTARA) - Joseph Jefferson Setyako, a Year XI student at SMA 3 Bahasa Putera Harapan in Purwokerto, Banyumas Regency, Central Java, along with five of his peers, has created an innovative solar-powered electric rickshaw as an effort to introduce environmentally friendly transportation in the modern era. The solar-powered electric rickshaw, named E-Cak, was showcased at the National Forum of Indonesian Trilingual Schools “Education Without Differences” at Putera Harapan Trilingual School (Puhua School), Purwokerto, on Saturday. Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Joseph said the idea stemmed from concern over the existence of traditional rickshaws, which are increasingly left behind amid developments in transportation technology. Through this innovation, he aims to provide a solution that maintains the value of people’s transportation while making it more efficient and environmentally friendly. “This innovation is a way to address the challenges of the times, when technological developments could leave traditional rickshaws behind. Therefore, we developed an electric and solar-powered rickshaw,” he explained. He stated that the total cost of building one unit of the electric rickshaw ranges from Rp3 million to Rp4 million and was undertaken by a team of six students. In this regard, the electric rickshaw uses a dynamo as the main driver powered by electricity from batteries. According to him, the cost of the dynamo is around Rp600,000, while the basic frame utilises a second-hand rickshaw purchased from a driver for about Rp600,000. The main power source uses four lead-acid battery units, or lead-based batteries, each with a capacity of 12 volts costing around Rp240,000, bringing the total battery cost to approximately Rp1 million. “We used four batteries because the power requirement is around 48 volts. There is actually a lithium battery option, but due to budget constraints, we chose the more affordable batteries,” he said.