GravityLight: From Gravity To Light

From Gravity To Light

GravityLight

Providing clean energy

Because a lot of poor people don’t have access to electricity (and thus light) lot’s of them still use kerosene lamps to light their home. The team from GravityLight.org made this innovative solution for this problem. It not only provides light, but also gets rid of the unhealthy burned kerosene fume.

From potential to kinetic energy

GravityLight is a solution to provide light using gravity. Just like an old clock, you pull up a 12 kg weight and it slowly starts falling down (about 1mm / second). This movement powers a drive sprocket. A geartrain running through the product turns this input into a high speed, low torque output that drives a DC generator at thousands of rotations per minute.

This generates just under a tenth of a watt to power an onboard LED and ancillary devices. Given the ever-increasing efficiency of LEDs, this produces a light over 5 times brighter (lux) than a typical open-wick kerosene lamp.

If like this product you can order it at their website.

Iceland filmed by a DJI Phantom

A Drone in Iceland.

No need to make it a long post. Just watch this amazing movie shot by a DJI drone carrying a Zenmuse H3-3D gimbal. Fly over the breathtaking rough terrain, timelapses of the Aurora Borealis and stunning aerials.

UrJar uses old laptop batteries as a lighting solution

Mobile Charger and Lighting Solution.

Millions of people in India don’t have access to the electrical grid. They have to uses alternative sources to light their homes. IBM did research to find out if old laptop batteries would be a good alternative. Could this be a solution to light shops and houses for the people in the slums? Research showed that 70% of these old batteries still had enough performance to be used. UrJar forms an alternative power solution for low voltage DC devices. Think about charging your mobile or lighting your shop with an LED light.
 
Comment by one of the shop owners: “the lantern only used to last for a maximum of 2.5 hours daily, and hence I had to close my shop by 9 (PM)…now with UrJar I can keep it open until 11 PM”

Light your shop for 9 Dollar

Cost: At a volume of 1000 pieces, the bill of material for each of these protoypes is around INR 600 ($9). The pricing includes the enclosure, electronics, a 3 Watt LED light bulb, and a mobile charger.

Want to read more?:
 
Download: UrJar: A Lighting Solution using Discarded Laptop Batteries [pdf]