Solar-powered Mosquito Trap with Air Quality Monitoring

Abstract

Mosquito pest control is a recurring matter that requires constant monitoring and attainment. This is due to the creature being able to spread various deadly diseases and mosquitoes are responsible for the death of one million people every year. The conventional prevention methods of using insecticides and bug zappers are somewhat less effective and affect the environment in various ways such as the extinction of beneficial insects, the biological evolution of mosquitoes, and climate changes. In this study, a solar-powered mosquito trap is created to trap mosquitoes by sucking them in using a fan while being attracted to a built-in LED to lure them into the trap. An air quality monitor is equipped to observe the change of temperature and carbon dioxide (CO2) of the surroundings and as a method to centralize the installation of the trap. The monitor display and air quality data retrieval are processed by an Arduino microcontroller. In the prototype observation, it was shown that the temperature increased proportional to CO2 concentration. The power efficiency of this device increased by 30% when using a solar panel. At optimal sunlight exposure and adequate battery capacity, the device would run for more than 24 hours and would get charged instantly on the next day when sunlight is present.