PenduLamp

INTRODUCTION

The Problem
According to World Bank’s Lighting Africa initiative, nearly 1.6 billion people in the
world are without access to the electricity. The unavailability of electricity for this
approximately 30% of the world’s population brings about a multitude of
inconveniences and disadvantages, one of which is lack of lighting. As such, off-grid
lighting solutions are currently being developed to address the issue, but the cost of
current solutions remains generally high (relative to the income of the beneficiary)
and unaffordable, except through specially coordinated programmes.

The Solution
To tackle the problem in Africa, we propose to have portable off-grid lighting,
PenduLamp, which is powered using piezoelectricity and simple harmonic motion
(pendulum). Most components of this lamp can be self-assembled using locally
sourced materials, except the LED (light-emitting diode) lights, piezoelectric crystal,
copper wires and the capacitor.
EXPLAINING THE CORE CONCEPTS

Piezoelectricity

Piezoelectricity is the ability of some materials to generate an electric potential when

mechanical stress is applied to it. Examples of such materials include quartz,
Rochelle salt, ceramics, even wood and bones.

The piezoelectric effect is due to the change of polarization density within the
material when it is placed under mechanical stress, which then induces a voltage
across the material. A simplified process will be elaborated in the following
diagrams.

As charges are evenly distributed in the piezoelectric material, there is no net current
flow.
Due to properties of the material, charges are net positive on one side and net negative
on the opposite side. Thus, there is induced potential.

Changing the direction of the applied force changes the direction of current flow.
This results in alternating currents which can be used to power different mechanisms.

This piezoelectricity effect can be found in various household equipments such as

speakers, microphones and lighters. It is also used in a number of scientific
instruments.
OUR SOLUTION – PENDULAMP

Exterior design

The diagram below gives the exterior design of PenduLamp

No. Description
 White LED attached to the bowl in arrangement as shown on the right
1  Plastic bowl covered in aluminum foil to reflect the light

 Rubber hose to contain the wires from the circuit in the box
2

 Strong cardboard box to contain the mechanism of PenduLamp

3

 Handle made up of wires to carry PenduLamp around

4
Interior Design

The next diagram gives the interior and driving mechanism of PenduLamp

No. Description

6
5  Small cardboard box within the bigger cardboard box to hold up

7
and
 Piezoelectric crystal (represented by blue rectangle)
6  Wires will be connected on to the top and bottom of the crystal

 2 wooden blocks (represented by yellow rectangles) to hold the crystal

7 in place and to compress it

 Capacitor to ensure that the light bulb does not flicker on and off with
8 the motion of the pendulum

 Pendulum bob will be made from a ball of wet clay wrapped in any
9 plastic wrap
 The bob will be suspended with a cane or wooden rod
 There will be a pivot made of thin but strong cane which will be driven
through the whole box (cross-sectional view represented by blue dot)
from which the pendulum system is suspended
How it works

As the pendulum swings from right to left to right, it pushes the wooden block to
exert mechanical stress on the piezoelectric crystal (a low-cost option is Rochelle salt),
before decompressing, thus inducing an electric current that powers the LED lighting.

The user simply has to drive the oscillation of the pendulum bob from time to time by
moving the part of the rod (from which the bob is suspended) which is not contained
within the box to power the circuit.

The capacitor will ensure a constant supply of voltage to power the LEDs.
Alternatives for piezoelectric material

The most commonly used piezoelectric materials are quartz and man-made ceramics.
However these materials are often expensive (thus unaffordable) and cannot be
obtained easily by our target beneficiary in Africa. Other naturally occurring
piezoelectric materials such as wood and bones may not exhibit sufficient
piezoelectricity to power the LED.

A viable choice for the piezoelectric crystal in PenduLamp is the Rochelle salt
(KNAC4H4O6.4 H2O), which exhibits very high piezoelectricity and hence can
generate a substantial amount of electric current. Rochelle salt can be mass
produced cheaply and is found in gadgets such as earphones and microphones. In fact,
the ingredients for production are readily available, such that Rochelle salt can be
easily made at home for many of us. (Instructions on how to make Rochelle salt at
home is easily available.)
EVALUATION OF OUR IDEA

Strength of our idea

Most components of the PenduLamp make use of materials that can be locally
sourced in the context of Africa with the exceptions of the copper wires, the LEDs,
capacitor and the piezoelectric crystal. All of these three materials can be provided
to the beneficiaries in a small package without incurring large costs. The mechanism
is designed in such a way that it is easy for people to build the mechanism themselves.
As such, PenduLamp is a cheap and sustainable solution for off-grid lighting.

Benefits of our idea

With the PenduLamp, we can help to alleviate poverty in Africa. The lighting
provided benefits the people in various ways, such as allowing adults to continue with
some work, and the children with their studies. The extra income earned and the
education has direct and indirect impacts towards improving the standard of living in
Africa.

Feasibility of our idea

Both piezoelectricity and simple harmonic motion (pendulum) are widely

studied/well-understood, with relevant technologies being widely available. With
PenduLamp, we are really combining existing ideas and technologies together to
create a much needed product/solution.

The cost of PenduLamp is low and affordable. This will enhance the product’s
appeal as the off-grid lighting solution of choice for the people, and helps to ensure
that PenduLamp is accessible to all those in need.

Improvements

Due to time and funding constraints, we did not experiment with different
piezoelectric materials to ascertain that Rochelle salt is indeed the best choice for
piezoelectric crystal in PenduLamp, balancing cost and performance considerations.
Hence, if given more time and funding, we would be able to conduct the experiment
and ascertain that Rochelle salt is indeed the best choice.