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Hong Kong Company Develops Solar-Powered Lightbulb

Posted by timothy on from the works-best-at-night dept.

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."

19 of 222 comments (clear)

  1. Solar Panels on the top of the bulb by phantomcircuit · · Score: 3, Funny

    Seriously how many light bulbs to you have where there is sunlight hittinng the top of the bulb regularly?

    1. Re:Solar Panels on the top of the bulb by MobileTatsu-NJG · · 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 that will ... illuminate you.

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    2. Re:Solar Panels on the top of the bulb by Jedi+Alec · · Score: 3, Funny

      Solar powered lightbulbs...

      Tackling education and overpopulation problems at the same time.

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  2. Cool by pieisgood · · Score: 4, 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?

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    1. Re:Cool by new+death+barbie · · Score: 3, Funny

      People in developing countries aren't afraid of the dark.

      --

      It's supposed to be completely automatic, but actually you have to press this button.

    2. Re:Cool by skine · · Score: 4, 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.

    3. Re:Cool by 0100010001010011 · · 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. 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.

    4. Re:Cool by MadnessASAP · · Score: 3, 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.

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    5. Re:Cool by Umuri · · 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 you see the small patch it illuminates, but seeing anything to either side or beyond that is much harder.
      Compare that to the normal nightvision a person has on a decent night with a moon, and you can see a mile easy.

      Yes, lights help when there's no moon, but if you have a moon, lighting destroys your night vision.

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    6. Re:Cool by SharpFang · · Score: 3, 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.

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  3. Not a first, I think... by blankinthefill · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Well, considering that these: http://www.siliconsolar.com/solar-garden-lights.html, have been around for many years, I think 'first' is a bit of a stretch. They may have made them CHEAPER, and longer lasting, or more useful, but certainly not FIRST.

    1. Re:Not a first, I think... by besalope · · Score: 3, 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.

  4. Re:Bulbs don't consume a lot of power ? by sadness203 · · Score: 3, Informative

    It already exist, in another form.
    SODIS

  5. What they're really afraid of. by The+Altruist · · Score: 5, Funny

    But they are afraid of Chuck Norris. So is the dark.

  6. Re:New? by dwillden · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Except those LED lights ($3.99 at Walmart) tend to shine for six hours or more, not a paltry 2 hours. I have a couple single LED lights among the set in my yard that will often still be lit when I leave for work in the morning.

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  7. Bogolights are also good ... by jrifkin · · Score: 5, Informative

    I have owned a couple of Boglights for a few years now and they've been solidly reliable. They can last up to 6 hours on a days charge, they work as both a flashlight and an area light, they give 6 levels of light, and are designed for developing countries. However, they cost twice as much, $30 a light. This page has a lot of technical information about them, http://www.bogolight.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BOGO-BUYONESN2&Show=TechSpecs

  8. Re:Unfortunately... by camperdave · · Score: 4, Insightful
    This isn't meant for third world applications, despite the company propaganda. It is meant for North Americans, for patio lanterns and camping and such. There's no reason that a third world solar powered bulb would be shaped like a North American bulb, complete with screw threads moulded into the plastic on the top. It's meant to be cute. Third world doesn't buy cute, they buy functional. North America buys cute.

    From Nokero's website:

    Coleman lanterns are popular, but the Nokero is like a solar Coleman lantern powered by sunlight rather than gas lantern technology, so it can also be used for recreational purposes. It can provide emergency light during or after natural disasters, it can be an outdoor recreation and camping lantern, or it can be used in and around outdoor patios.

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  9. Replacement term for 3rd world by xzvf · · Score: 4, Informative

    Diplomats adjust terms to keep from offending nations where people have little income and limited freedom. During the cold war there was the 1st world (NATO, neutral western Europe, Japan), 2nd world (Warsaw Pact), and 3rd world (everyone else). Late in the cold war, 3rd world was replaced by developing nations to counter the Soviet goal of creating Communist revolutions, and indicate the new US policy economic development (replacing the anti-Communist strongman policy). After the cold war saw the creating of the emerging economies (BRIC {Brazil, Russia [after deflating the CIA myth of a Soviet economy as large as the US], India, and China}, Asian tigers {primarily South Korea and Singapore} and former purgatory countries {South Africa [Aparthid] and Israel [peace treaty with Egypt]. The former 1st world is now called developed. So now we have Developed, Emerging and Developing. Of course people closer to the academic world will know the newest buzzwords.

  10. Tim Hornyak got paid by juventasone · · Score: 3, Informative

    As someone posted in the article's comments, there is already a cheaper, better-designed, and longer-lasting product already in-use in the developing world.