Bike Lights without Batteries
Unplugged Living, a website about living off of the grid and reducing energy wastage, has an article about bicycle lights that do not require batteries. They are located in the pedal, and they use the kinetic energy of the pedaling motion to charge a capacitor which keeps the lights lit for up to 12 minutes after stopping or freewheeling.
There are three LED lights on each pedal that combined provide 360 degrees of unique visibility. The lights pulsate, with a white one to the front, red to the rear and yellow to the side. If you check out the home page for the Pedalite web site (www.pedalite.com), you’ll see a short flash video that demonstrates how they look.
These are a really great idea. They are a bit pricey at $87 a pair, but I would pick them up in a heart beat but for one small little detail. I use clipless pedals. Oh well; it is still a great idea.
Cool idea. It’s a shame that sort of technology isn’t used more often.
I’m diggin’ the idea of doing this with LEDs. My huffy as a kid had a light driven off a flywheel on the front wheel; but incandescents use a TON of power per lumen.
LEDs, on the other hand, are stingy. Great idea. May need to see if I can find a generator to backfit…
That’s the beauty of LEDs; they take next to nothing to power. They should come up with something that would light up a vest as you run; I’d buy that in a heart beat.
This sounds like a great idea, but compared to the 6 dollar price of the battery powered leds i bought for my bike, its not even a question of what to buy. I’m expecting the bats to last for at least a few months or a year.
Yeah, this particular implementation is expensive. But there will be more. And the price will come down.