Equipped with a solar cell, a hand crank and a battery, each unit was designed to give users a real-life example of how solar and kinetic energy is collected, how batteries work, and how their individual contributions could make a difference. A simple circuit was designed and parts were ordered/created so that the participants of the seminar could come in, listen to a few talks on the subject, and then get crackin’ — and while I sadly had to miss the workshop, I’m told they got to do just that.

The finished product looked like this:

(It looks all nice because of Mouna, Jenny and Carmen’s work, I can’t take any credit there.)

And here’s the circuit diagram:

Better yet, Jenny put it up on Instructables, where it made the Top 15 in the Laser Cutter Contest! The feedback was wonderful, and at last count, 11,873 people had viewed it. There’s some great documentation on how to build one as well. Carmen and Jenny did a great writeup on their blog too, which is definitely worth a read.