Volume 7 Issue 4 ( December 2020 )

Grashof portable incubator is one of the community engagement products from the Faculty of Engineering Universitas Indonesia. Tropical Renewable Energy Center (TREC) Universitas Indonesia designed a solar box “Be-Care”' that can be used as an independent power source solution for the grashof incubator. The purpose of this study is to test the performance of solar box Be-Care if it is used for incubator purposes that can at least supply 12 hours of electricity at night. Solar box Be-Care uses two batteries, each of which has a 12V voltage and 18Ah current capacity. Two types of solar panels with a capacity of 40 Wp and 100 Wp to be determined each night and day's performance. Tests were carried out in a non-AC room for three days non-stop to determine the charging and discharging characteristics of the solar box Be-Care. The test results show that with a 40Wp capacity, the incubator performs only 22 hours 13 minutes to 11-volt battery capacity. But during the day in sunny weather conditions, 40 Wp solar panels cannot fill the voltage to the battery, so it is not feasible to use because it failed to carry out the charging process. In testing with 100 Wp solar panels, the incubator performs well for 31 hours 50 minutes. And during the day in sunny conditions, 100 Wp solar panels can charge voltage to the battery. The solar box Be-Care with 100Wp solar panels can be used but still need more refinement to increase the performance and endurance.

Keywords: Premature Infant; Grashof Incubator; Solar Panel; Solar Box Be-Care; Solar Power Plant