Energy wastage from streetlights that operate continuously or depend on manual switching contributes significantly to unnecessary electricity consumption and increased operational costs in Ghana. According to a 2018 report by the Energy Commission of Ghana, street lighting accounts for approximately 8% of the country’s total electricity consumption, with many systems lacking automated controls. This inefficiency results in energy losses estimated between 25% and 30%, often caused by lights being left on during daylight hours or periods of low traffic. Implementing automation in street lighting presents a clear opportunity to reduce energy waste and lower operational expenses, supporting national energy conservation goals.

Learners at Algo Peers recognized this problem and explored how microcontroller-based automation could optimize streetlight operation to conserve energy more effectively. They began by sharing their personal observations of streetlight usage in their communities, identifying challenges related to energy wastage and manual control, and collaboratively designing solutions to address these issues.

The learners were introduced to the BBC micro:bit’s General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) pins, which allow interaction with external components, and learned to apply if-else conditional statements in programming to automate LED streetlight behavior.

The project engaged learners in hands-on building and programming of streetlight prototypes, transforming abstract programming concepts into practical, functional devices. Additionally, the project incorporated Problem-Based Learning principles (Barrows, 1986), situating learners in an authentic, community-centered challenge that fostered critical thinking, collaboration, and meaningful problem solving.