bce1
Ausprep Staff 
Posts: 819 
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Post by bce1 on Jun 28, 2015 20:03:57 GMT 10
I invested in version 1 and have invested in version 2 as well.
An awesome little device and likely to be hard to get outside the third world.
No financial interest or otherwise here, just a very cool off grid device
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
Posts: 3,119
Likes: 3,578
Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Jun 28, 2015 22:09:23 GMT 10
Not to poo poo the idea entirely, as it's a better option than kero lamps, and creates a small industry, I do have some thoughts about the economics of the product ; It costs $35 each. ------- It produces a tiny 1/10 Watt of power. - Kenya is not lacking in Sun, in fact it has 'great' solar irradiation and let me show you a comparable product that you could leave outside during the day and bring in as is, or make them with a unit that you put on the roof and one you affix inside.  SourceAbout the same power generation capability and about the same light output. Incredibly simple design and no moving parts means it will out last the plastic gears in the gravity light. Perhaps replace the AAA rechargeable battery every 5-10 years, costs $2.20USD. Yes, getting a plant up and operational to make solar panels is a significant capital investment and a good deal of power is needed to make panels [purifying silicone etc] so it might be a little past investors, but it's worth considering your competition if you plan to make products to sell, be it locally or internationally. For the price you could get a FAR more capable system with perhaps 10W of panels producing 40-60Wh of usable power per day including batteries and electronics to match. You'll have much better lighting [LED lighting equivalent to our household brightness, not tiny amounts of light] and plenty of power left over to be used with radio, or charging phones as Kenya has 67% smart phone adoption. I can see 'some' potential use for preppers, no need to have panels outside, could live in a hole and still have light, though I would argue that the other $33 or so could have bought |
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Post by Peter on Jun 28, 2015 22:21:07 GMT 10
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
Posts: 3,119
Likes: 3,578
Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Jun 29, 2015 8:51:30 GMT 10
Unfortunately the zinc and copper are what make the energy of the 'battery' the potato merely the electrolyte, that is the medium in which electrons flow between the two metals. You could also use salt water which is even cheaper [practically free] as well as a little acid, again really cheap. If you have a supply of zinc and copper, you could make batteries no issue, though they're not reusable and your costings wouldn't be much better. It's kind of weird that a professor hasn't thought that out?
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