Hong Kong Company Develops Solar-Powered Lightbulb 222
hussain_mkj writes "A Hong Kong-based company, Nokero, has introduced what it claims is the world's first solar powered lightbulb. Nokero is trying to replace traditional kerosene lamps in developing countries with its solar-powered N100 LED lightbulbs. The bulb is about the same size as normal incandescent bulbs, and will shine for two hours when charged for a day. The company claims that the new bulb is five times as bright as a kerosene lamp and uses 1/200th the energy. It will cost $15 for one and $480 for 48."
Solar Panels on the top of the bulb (Score:4, Funny)
Seriously how many light bulbs to you have where there is sunlight hittinng the top of the bulb regularly?
Re: (Score:2)
Per the tfa their thinking was that you would hang it outside during the day.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Obviously if you're in a house you probably already have electric power or some other more reliable source of lighting
Re: (Score:2)
That said, this bulb will run for two hours? I don't care how long it takes to charge, if it can't run for more than two hours then what's the point? A lightbulb that only functions a little bit after dark isn't going to help any
Re: (Score:2)
That said, this bulb will run for two hours? I don't care how long it takes to charge, if it can't run for more than two hours then what's the point? A lightbulb that only functions a little bit after dark isn't going to help anyone do anything in the dark.
No, a light bulb that functions for two hours after dark will help someone do something for two hours after dark.
Re: (Score:2)
No, it's great. It'll increase the average work day (decrease the amount of time spent happy) by 2 hours per day in the third-world, making them more like us which is what everybody really wants.
Yes they will be able to spend the evenings in Bible study groups instead of telling their ghastly traditional stories. The sooner their culture is forgotten the better.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
horizontally strung piece of string -> problem solved
Re: (Score:2)
horizontally strung piece of string -> problem solved
Quick patent it.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
This is not new and probably not even cheaper than the hand assembled devices being used now. What is new is being able to get it already assembled and in bulk.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Are you referring to the four corner day? I'm happy to see the wisdom of the world's wisest human being put to good use. Thank you.
http://www.timecube.com/ [timecube.com]
Re:Solar Panels on the top of the bulb (Score:5, Funny)
Seriously how many light bulbs to you have where there is sunlight hittinng the top of the bulb regularly?
I found some information on a phenomenon [wikipedia.org] that will ... illuminate you.
Re: (Score:2)
I found some information on a structure [wikipedia.org] that will ... shade you.
Portable lamp (Score:2, Informative)
At night you either hang it from the metal clip or screw it in. By the picture, it looks like there is a black "on" button at the top that may work such that screwing it in further switches it on (would have to remove the clip though).
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Solar powered lightbulbs...
Tackling education and overpopulation problems at the same time.
Cool (Score:5, Interesting)
You can get the 48 light deal and setup a grid of lights to provide night time lighting for six hours and you won't have to pay the electricity bill.
But will anyone in the developing countries know or care about this?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
But will anyone in the developing countries know or care about this?
The problem is what does mean a "developing country"?
Really, people apply that term from places with reasonable life quality (but considered "developing" for some reason) to places lacking a funcional government and where famine is widespread.
In the not-so "developing countries" people won't care since - unless it's a desolate area - even the poorest houses are connected to the power grid.
Replacement term for 3rd world (Score:5, Informative)
Poor Aussies (Score:2)
By you logic, Australia would be part of the 3rd world.
What has the 3rd world ever done to you to deserve that?
The term is indeed pretty flexible and highly political. Animal Planet has all these "animal cop" shows. Sometimes very hard to see the difference between a show in South Africa/England and the US of A.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
If by freedom, you mean freedom from government services, including police, education and health services, then yes, you'd be right.
I live in a country with a lot of freedom as defined above. Trust me, the malaria, dengue, lack of dentists and occasional outbreaks of mob violence make it a taste that few would willingly acquire, given the choice....
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
"There are two ways a truly civilised and advanced nation can be defined. One, it has a fleet of nuclear submarines, and two, it does not have the death penalty. That leaves you with France and Britain. And that’s about right. "
Ikea buy one give one (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Cool (Score:5, Interesting)
Developing countries are way ahead of the "green" curve because:
1) Electricity is expensive
2) Electricity isn't that reliable.
On my recent trip to India I was quite surprised, especially out in Sikkim. Even though the area is very 'poor' (by American standards) almost everyone had florescent lights. We stayed on Yangsum Farm [yangsumfarm.com]. The guy had a solar array. WWII sub batteries for backup. He was in process of building an entire passive 'off the grid' building.
Every single hotel room I stayed in had a slot for the key. You walked in, put the key in the slot and the power came on to the room. If you took the key, you lost power. It was annoying trying to charge stuff, but how many times to people leave their rooms in the USA and leave a TV on, some lights, etc?
So yes, developing countries know about this and they'll most likely make use of it long before anyone in the USA even cares.
Re: (Score:2)
Every single hotel room I stayed in had a slot for the key. You walked in, put the key in the slot and the power came on to the room. If you took the key, you lost power.
Don't have to go clear to India...that is popular in island nations, too, where the cost of shipping fuel to power plants is expensive. Like down in the Dominican Republic.
(Although it is my thought that they could have just capitalized on the "Drinks Included!" feature of their resorts and routed the urinal flow through generators.)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Same here - I think hotels in the UK are now required to put these systems in when refitting / building, as they seem to be in >75% of hotels i stay in nowadays.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Every single hotel room I stayed in had a slot for the key. You walked in, put the key in the slot and the power came on to the room. If you took the key, you lost power. It was annoying trying to charge stuff, but how many times to people leave their rooms in the USA and leave a TV on, some lights, etc?
You know you can put a business card/membership card/whatever in there and it works?
Most hotels in the UK have this as well now, even those costing USD 500 a night for the cheapest room...
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
With regards to the key slot for power ... fairly true of Europe as well.
It is (sadly) us North Americans who are free and loose with power because it is still relatively cheap here.
Re: (Score:2)
Depends on the style of the hotel I guess, if it is a relatively new hotel owned by a larger chain, then it may have a slot for the key. But most hotels I've been in (and I've been in quite an number of (normal priced) hotels for my work that still did without. I imagine that at higher priced hotels this kind of thing is more common.
I like the fact that they keep cost down that way. It's also convenient that the lighting of the whole room comes up when inserted. At some hotels the first time you use the key
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Maybe something like this [newegg.com] would be cheaper?
I would hardly say this is the world's first.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You can get the 48 light deal and setup a grid of lights to provide night time lighting for six hours and you won't have to pay the electricity bill.
But will anyone in the developing countries know or care about this?
Er, yes and yes.
I live in the developing world and a family to whom I'm quite close have two solar-powered lanterns already. They use them for illumination as well as to light their roadside shop in the evenings. The lamp also has a plug for mobile phones and a mini-USB connector. Its solar panels are significantly larger than this light bulb's and they're all on one side, so you can use them all at once.
The lanterns are pretty expensive by local standards - almost a week's pay. But they're much cheaper to
Re: (Score:2)
http://solar-aid.org/ [solar-aid.org]
Solar Aid has several solutions that are better. They promote locally manufactured or at least assembled devices. They help with PV systems. They have an interesting light that provides more light for a longer time, it's far cheaper, it charges phones and other small gadgets and was designed by students at Leeds. Plus Minus Design was also able to address the need for local maintenance with a simply designed product assembled through snap-in parts and repairable with basic tools. http: [cnet.com]
Re:Cool (Score:4, Funny)
People in developing countries aren't afraid of the dark.
What they're really afraid of. (Score:5, Funny)
But they are afraid of Chuck Norris. So is the dark.
Re:Cool (Score:5, Interesting)
My great uncle drove down to Brazil about thirty years back, and most central American rural natives would drive without headlights at night. They felt that it actually improved their ability to see.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Cool (Score:4, Informative)
It does, they found that requiring daytime running lights increased fuel consumption by something like 5%, not a lot but when you're counting pennies.
Re: (Score:2)
Theres a write up on it here [wikipedia.org]. Compare to your vehicles fuel consumption and draw your own conclusions.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I'll bite the karma bullet on this, you're being relatively shortsighted and blind in your insinuation they are stupid.
It actually does improve your vision.
I'll give you a simple experiment. Go outside at night, shine a bright flashlight(halogen makes this work better) at the ground. stare at that flashlight for a good 5 minutes.
Now turn the stupid thing off, and wait 5 minutes.
Once your eyes adjust suddenly you
The light forces your eyes to restrict the light comming in, killing your darkvision. Yes it lets
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Cool (Score:4, Interesting)
Can you, with normal headlights on, see a pedestrian a kilometer away?
On a night of full moon, I can see them pretty well with lights off. I may not spot the difference between a slick of oil and a pothole a meter away, but I can pretty well see the curve of the road, the bigger obstacles, very far buildings and so on. The moment I switch headlights on my vision is limited to ~100m. And the moment a car with headlights on approaches from behind a hill/bump (or the asshole doesn't switch to passing beam) my view range is pretty much zero, for the duration of the encounter and about 10s afterwards.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
And an additional useful side effect: the other cars on the road, which are far more dangerous than the pedestrians and animals that might be out there, will also know you're there, from a *very long* way away.
Which is quite useful, really.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Test that again.
Try to see a reflective sash or shirt one kilometer away in headlights.
The main lights give you up to 300m range of visibility. Reflective objects may be visible at twice that distance. At 1km away - not a even a shade of chance, especially that you are dazzled by your own headlights reflected from nearby objects.
Note brightness of a light source drops off with square of the distance from it. And in case of reflective surfaces, the distance counts twice - from light source to the surface and
Re: (Score:2)
"They are being stupid, and your ridiculously obvious "experiment" does nothing to prove otherwise."
You have a TON to learn about photopic and scotopic vision, I see. Until you know about that, you have NO room to talk, at all.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
It goes without saying that if you have no artificial light available that waiting until your eyes adjust to the darkness gives you better vision.
Here's another experiment for you. Select a night of that's close to full moon. Obtain a million candle-power flood.
Wait until full night, then go looking around a forest. Then turn that flood on. You can see what the flood illuminates real good, right?
Now look at somewhere other than what the flood is lighting. Can't see a thing, can you?
Headlights are like that flood - except they're fixed directly ahead. Less useful on a winding road.
With headlights:
=====
Your vision is good, but only for a short di
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
The trick is to leave the lights on. Then you don't need night vision.
And your missing the other function of the lights - to be seen by other drivers.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
"And your missing the other function of the lights - to be seen by other drivers."
Umm, hi, we have these things called marker lights.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Call me old fashioned, but the areas illuminated by correctly fitted headlamps correspond quite closely with where you should be looking while you're driving.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Nah, you just whack on bigger lights.
And if they're not enough, BIGGER ONES!!!
(and a second alternator :> )
Re: (Score:2)
[...] most central American rural natives would drive without headlights at night. They felt that it actually improved their ability to see.
It takes roughly 45 minutes to fully restore your night vision after being exposed to something like a car's headlights. I don't know if you meant that they felt the practice received from driving at night improved their vision in general, but there is at least some truth to the statement.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
People in developing countries aren't afraid of the dark.
But people in developed countries are afraid of the darkies. This way we can keep an eye on them.
Re: (Score:2)
The manufacturer of the light bulb might think the sun is an unlimited, universal energy source. Unfortunately, in big cities, only the rich could afford the sun. For ordinary people, there is not enough sun light to sustain the growth of a health plant at their windows.
Re: (Score:2)
Then this ain't necessarily the best solution for big cities.
Big cities usually have at least the beginnings of electrical distribution infrastructure; the solution in a big city is to improve the transmission infrastructure, and the generation infrastructure. An investment in these two things will give benefit to a relatively high number of people for each (say) coal fired plant you turn into a reliable generating station, or whatever your source of power is. The centralisation that defines the big city he
Not a first, I think... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Not a first, I think... (Score:4, Informative)
In my International Management course we learned about an initiative to work with 3rd world countries to help provide 1 Watt Solar Panels, rechargeable batteries, and LED arrays as kerosene replacements. The systems only cost about $100 at the time (2 years or so ago) and it paid itself off in about 5 months due to the price of kerosene.
Re: (Score:2)
In fact I am pretty sure I have seen lanterns exactly like this in the shops. Solar panel on top. Batteries and LED lights. You hang it in the sun during the day.
Re: (Score:2)
Ever used those things? They suck. It's basically a single, low-power LED rigged up to a rechargeable battery. They're generally designed to illuminate a walkway at night (VERY little light output - just enough to see by), and all the ones I've used are barely able to do that.
A light bulb suggests that there's actually a meaningful amount of light. The little garden lights don't compare, even if the concept is similar.
As an aside, the garden lights can be had for about five bucks each (in a pack of six or e
Re: (Score:2)
Ever used those things? They suck. It's basically a single, low-power LED rigged up to a rechargeable battery. They're generally designed to illuminate a walkway at night (VERY little light output - just enough to see by), and all the ones I've used are barely able to do that.
They do what they are intended for. Double the solar panel area, increase the light output, switch the lights so you can use them for a couple of hours at a time. Now you have a product which may be the difference between an African kid being able to study at night, or not. More light would be good but some is better than nothing at all.
Re: (Score:2)
In theory you could take a bunch of them without the ground spikes, punch holes in a tin roof, and install them so the solar panel is on the outside while the light is on the inside. (Sealing the roof for leaks obviously)
Do that with enough of them and you have bright enough light to read at night.
And since you can buy a brace of them cheap at local big-box stor
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah reading this article I am plotting a project for next weekend. I have an old solar panel intended to boost a car battery when the car is not in use. I have an old six volt gel cell battery okay for float charging. I can buy a single white high intensity LED.
The problem is that when I go into the garage at night it is too dark to see where I am going. The florescent light takes too long to start but a little light which is always on will make all the difference. The idea would be to mount the solar cell
Re: (Score:2)
We've got ultra-bright 1W diodes, now. Two companies I know of have smashed 150 lux/w and thus are surpassing HIDs in visual efficiency. I think Cree smashed the 200 lux/w, which just blows away any HID out there. Get two High-capacity NiMH batteries (each holding about 4w of power) and a joule thief hooked to a micro-amplifier and solar panel, and you could light a desk for a night, at about the same cost as this solution in TFA, and at very likely near the same price line.
New? (Score:2, Redundant)
Isn't this the exact same thing as the exterior lights people stick in the ground along their steps and walkways around their homes? They charge in the daytime and come on at night for a couple hours. This is just a slightly different form factor is all.
And I don't think it is accurate calling it a "lightbulb". It is a "bulb-shaped" electronic device, but it is not a bulb.
Re:New? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
dunno which 3.99 one's he's talking about, but it's feasible considering the cost of these.
Unfortunately... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Unfortunately... (Score:5, Insightful)
From Nokero's website:
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
a $15 light bulb is something you have to hire a body guard to secure if you hang it in the open.
One day of charging = two hours of light (Score:3, Insightful)
But this lamp seems least useful where it would be most needed - where days are short, nights are long, and the weather uncooperative.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
My first thought was the kerosene lamp is also a bit more rugged. They can generally take a few hits, dirt and even a good bit of rust. Conversely, I get a sense the solar powered replacement may break with a few days of usage.
Bogolights are also good ... (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
They look better thought out than the light bulb shaped N100 LED bulbs. The solar panels on the N100 are pointed in such a way that only half of them could be put even approximately facing the sun and are pointed down at a steep angle if hung up to charge. I would rather be able to aim the solar panel. Over all it looks like the N100 looks like it was designed by marketing, those Boglights seem a bit better thought out.
Re: (Score:2)
"The solar panels on the N100 are pointed in such a way that only half of them could be put even approximately facing the sun"
Incorrect. If you point the top of this bulb directly towards the sun, every panel is well-illuminated.
Now keeping it pointed at the sun is a different story.
Re: (Score:2)
the angle at which they are placed would probably mean that pointing the screw end directly to the sun, will ensure each panel catches only a fraction of the light compared to one panel placed at a 90 degree angle to the sun
i'm pretty sure the geometry of the panels on this thing could be optimised to give two-three times better performance, but that would mean sacrifing the cute 'lightbulb' shape.
infinite energy! (Score:2, Funny)
Wow, just wow (Score:2)
Gotta love slashdot. Light bulbs running on sunlight! Transistors working when they're off! Lying about the lie detector!
What next? Honest politicians? Transparent intelligence organisations? Intelligent news consumers?
i like my camp lights to use nuclear fuel (Score:3, Interesting)
i'm not kidding
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2482/are-camp-lanterns-radioactive [straightdope.com]
Tim Hornyak got paid (Score:4, Informative)
This is wrong on so many levels! (Score:2)
Ok, first of all, it's not a light bulb, it's LEDs. Secondly, it's not the first, solar powered light has existed for decades! Third, I hope they didn't get a patent for the idea of combining solar cells with LEDs.
This design sucks :( (Score:3, Insightful)
Just look at it. The design has abysmal panel coverage. Do note that there seems to be a couple mm of margin around the solar panel within the area covered by the clear plastic meniscus. They could have rather trivially increased the panel coverage by a factor of two, and with a bit more sweat it could have been 3x larger. I'd also like to see how they waterproofed the switch's operator (the black button protruding on top). It's not a trivial task, as not only you get water going straight down onto the switch, but also you get dirt from your fingers that will act to eat away any O-ring-like seal arrangements.
I'd also like to know what sort of power conditioning electronics do they use to charge the rechargeable cells, and to extract power from them. Designing efficient micropower power converters is quite an undertaking if you don't have an engineer who has done that once or twice (and done it well).
Having seen the abysmal design of common solar-powered garden lights, I don't really have high hopes. Now if anyone wonders: your typical $3.99 garden light sucks at power conversion efficiency. And by sucks I mean it's underperforming by 60%+. And the cell life is shortened as well: it's hard to maintain cell life without a power converter when all you have for energy source is PV cells.
Jim Williams should tackle that one and write it up in an app note ;)
Re: (Score:2)
But don't let it get out of control because more input means more output and that might never end.
Re: (Score:2)
We FOLLOW the laws of thermodynamics in this household, young man!
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
SODIS [wikipedia.org]
batteries (Score:2)
Just what I was wondering. How long will the battery last? 2 years? Miserable battery life is my number 1 complaint about UPSes.
Re: (Score:2)
not to mention that this thing is supposed to hang out in the sun in a 3rd world country for an entire day, can you imagine what all that heat will do to the enclosed battery?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
you know the saying "Chuck Norris doesnt sleep, he waits"
Although Chuck Norris isnt afraid of the dark, so obviously wouldnt need a light, and he sure as hell wouldnt post as "Anonymous Coward"