Here it is from Yahoo creative commons a neat horse riding hat!
Solar powered safety lit bike helmet.
Weatherproof, versatile, changeable parts, doubles as a AAA battery charger.
Weatherproof, changable 5 or 10mm flashing LEDs in O ring sealed mounts. Flexible weatherproof solar panel. Panel and batteries are detachable from helmet for use as a AAA battery charger for camping. Removable AAA batteries can be charged in wall if needed, or regular AAAs can be used.
> Charge time: 5-8 hours in full sunlight to charge 4 AA batteries. I used 3 AAA batteries, so it is much quicker. It will charge in bright cloud cover as well.
> Runtime being tested, but so far, seems like several hours.
To me this is a well-suited application of solar powered trickle charge panels. I only ride at night about an hour or so a week, so during the day the helmet can sit in a window and charge. Helmet mounted lights also free me from having lights mounted on my bike that need to be detached to keep from being stolen. It works in the rain and so far is always charged when I need it.
This project could be done in many different ways. The key breakthroughs for me after many trials and errors, were to use a simple soft case Velcro wrapped to the helmet, and to use Black Shoe Goo! I think it's the new duct tape. Also, most of the work was getting an easy rapid prototype idea to work rain or shine for months on end and be versatile with replaceable parts.
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