G-Lamp -- dependable as Gravity!

Wind-up torches with a spring and a mini-generator inside are still popular as emergency stand-bys. So was the wind-up radio released by Philips and one or two other companies sometime back. But nobody had thought of roping in the "old reliable" Gravity to run a lamp-- till now, that is!

Two London-based designers, Martin Riddiford and Jim Reeves, after four years of "hard work" (pulling up a 10 kg weight umptenn times, even for research, is not exactly relaxing work!) have released production models of a novel gravity-powered LED lamp. The lamp, aimed squarely at the off-grid backyards of 'civilization', is an inexpensive, safe, and health-neutral alternative to the ubiquitous smoky kerosene lamp.
The Gravity Lamp employs a novel approach to storing energy and creating illumination. It takes only 3 seconds to lift the weight which, as it descends, drives a mini-generator that powers the light for about 30 minutes.

Rough estimates place the number of people in the world who live in interior villages, mostly in Africa, South America and India at over 1.5 billion. For lighting the people here have to turn to kerosene lamps, which are expensive to run, polluting and have significant negative health impacts. A shocking statistic is that the 'passive smoking' of kerosene smoke turns 60% of adult females in developing nations into lung-cancer victims. Millions also suffer from burns inflicted by overturned/burning kerosene lamps, the result of kitchen accidents. Another currently relevant figure is that the burning of kerosene for domestic lighting releases 244 million tonnes of Carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually.

No doubt, there are those who swear by solar photo-voltaic systems as being the answer to the needs of the villagers and contribute a significant percentage of the power needs of developing nations. However, the high initial costs of a solar panel and storage battery, and the short service life of the battery are deterring factors for marginalised individuals. The whole photo-voltaic system has complex circuitry that needs maintenance and the solar panels need bright sunlight to produce electricity. In comparison, the Gravity Light has no batteries to run out, replace or dispose of -- it has a "perpetual gravity battery", no fragile parts (like the solar panel, wiring, control ciruit boards etc) that could break, and works whether it is shining or raining! Truly it is a totally clean and green alternative!

The self-contained lamp and its drive belt comes packed in a bag. The oval body of the lamp houses a geared drive mechanism and generator and an LED lamp. Hang it up by its integral hook and thread the drive belt through. Now fill the bag with some sand or rocks hook it to the end of the drive belt. Pull the other end of the drive belt so that the weight is up, and release it. The weighted bag (nearly 10 kg) through the gearing drives the mini-generator for about 30 minutes. The generator output is fed to the high intensity LED, and is also available at terminals to say, charge a mobile device etc. This means there are no recurring running or maintenance costs (nor any polluting waste by-products) after the initial low purchase price, expected to be less than $5.

Rain or shine, the Gravity Lamp will work -- so long as Gravity is there!

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