SYSTEM

HAND CRANKING LIGHTING UNIT FOR RURAL AREAS

REQUIREMENT

Electricity is an important requirement in rural areas for meeting lighting needs. Many rural areas do not have access to electricity and even if it is available it is either erratic or absent many a times. In most areas solar energy and wind energy are an option but in certain hilly locations and difficult areas where even solar energy is not regular or is poor and wind energy is low. To meet electrical needs of such locations a hand cranking / human powered generators have been designed. Unlike many models available the hand crank generator designed is unique because of its efficiency and absolute ease of use. A high efficiency generator and a storage system make it a very simple, low cost and trouble free system for use. The storage battery can also be charged with a solar PV panel, wind energy or grid depending on availability of them as an auxillary source.

TARGET AREA / POPULATION

The target area is for villages, hamlets and areas in hilly regions with poor or low sunshine.

INNOVATION and DESIGN FACTOR

The innovation factor in the system are ;

• Design of a rugged hand cranking system with metal gears

• Design of a high efficienxcy 3 phase AC generator with virtually 'zero' cogging.

• Provision for auxillary charging using Solar ,wind energy and grid power.

• Design of life lubricated gears with sintered metal.

• High efficiency LED output light optics

• Power storage in Li Po battery pack.

• Ergonomic fatigue free operation design.

ROAD AHEAD

Design a system to provide AC power output for low power gadget usage.