Bicycle Powered Mobile Phone Charger

¹ School of Computer Science and Engineering, Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
² Solar Energy Research Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

^* Corresponding author: drfaizalfauzan@gmail.com

Abstract

The invention of electricity has become an essential part of every aspect of the society globally. With the increasing demand for the electrical appliance and electronic gadgets, this has also increased the consumption of energy significantly. As a result, we experience power outage which causes huge losses to industries. Hence, this research address if it is sustainable to use alternative energy in the form of bicycle power to charge a mobile phone. Bicycle power is a form of renewable energy that does not require the burning of fossil fuel to generate energy. The objective of this study is to design a mobile phone charger electrical circuit which consist of the integration of electrical components. Subsequently, the energy and power consumption between the conventional charging method and pedal powered charger can be assessed. This analysis is done to determine if pedal power is an economically sustainable solution to generate electricity. In this analysis, three selected dynamos hubs were assessed based on the performance data during low, medium, and high speed. The relationship between voltage, power speed, and time were obtained from the performance data and calculations. The chosen dynamo hub was the mid-range model, Shimano DH-3D72 which produces sufficient power at low and high speed to charge the mobile phone. The next analysis was the DC-DC converter topology which was essential to ensure that the output voltage was capped at 5V. The results have shown that a SEPIC converter was chosen based on the designed electrical circuit and application used. The third analysis was the selection of ultracapacitor which was needed to store energy during high speed and discharge energy during low speed. The selected ultracapacitor was justified with relevant calculations and further simulated in an analog circuit software, LTSpice XVII. All the selected electrical components were integrated to form a complete electrical circuit and were simulated under various inputs condition. The outcome of the results shown that the efficiency of the charging system was improved by 30%. The payback period for this system would require only 406 days which is equivalent to 1.1 years.