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Convergence Technologies

Pedal-A-Watt

Advertising Feature

The Pedal-A-Watt Stationary Bike Power Generator as featured at Super Bowl XLII

The Pedal-A-Watt bike generator creates 175 to 300 watts at 12 to 25 volts DC depending on rider's strength. Bicycle easily disengages from stand for immediate road use. Stand folds easily for transport. Power small, household appliances such as a desktop PC, laptop, or stereo.

If you saw the Duracell Power Lodge powering the 2009 lighted sign on New Year's Eve then you'll be happy to know you too can create power with your bicycle and the Pedal-A-Watt...

The Pedal-A-Watt bicycle stand keeps the user aerobically fit while creating power that may be used to power lights and/or other small appliances. The Pedal-A-Watt may also be used to charge a battery so that the power may be used at a later time (see the PowerPak under the Accessories page). The battery may then be tapped at a later time, after dark for example, when the energy is needed to power lights or appliances. The Pedal-A-Watt bicycle stand is an excellent addition to an existing battery system that may already be charged from the photovoltaic panels, 120 VAC grid power or wind power. The concept behind the Pedal-A-Watt bicycle is that electricity can be created from human effort and then stored in batteries.

It is very important to use a voltage regulator between the Pedal-A-Watt and any battery or PowerPak. The voltage regulator ensures nearly 100% efficiency in battery charging and also ensures safety. A battery or PowerPak that is charged without a voltage regulator may leak or even explode. The best case is that the battery gets far fewer than than the expected charge cycles.

Clean energy will become more and more important to our world in the future as more people, especially in up and coming countries like China, require more power that, unfortunately, creates pollution in many cases.

The average rider will produce between 125 and 200 watts using the Pedal-a-Watt. While this may not seem like much power, many pieces of equipment draw very little power and can be powered for long spans of time with small amounts of power.

Lights, laptops, and radios all draw small amounts of current at 12 volts DC. In addition, LED lighting and high efficiency fluorescent lighting now allow 200 watts to go a long way. A typical 25 watt fluorescent light bulb, which replaces a 100 watt incandescent bulb, will last 8 hours on 200 watts worth of power. LEDs (light emitting diodes) are even more efficient and will last days on 200 watts worth of power.

Want to know if you can power an appliance? Look at the label on the rear (usually by the power cord) and find out the "rating" which is in watts. For example, the label may read 30 W under electrical rating and this is 30 watts. If you are unsure, please email us with questions.

Power Consumption of Typical Appliances:

Small TV 100 watts
Large TV 200 watts
Laptop PC 10 watts
Desktop PC 75 watts
Stereo 20 watts
Charging a cellphone 5 watts
Hi Effic Desk lamp 15 watts

Any bicycle that is in good shape will suffice for mating to the Pedal-a-Watt platform. However, bicycles with wheels of larger diameters, such as 27 inches as opposed to 16 inches, create more mechanical advantage. Both street bikes, with very narrow, smooth tires, and mountain bikes, with wide, knobby tires, have been used with equal success.

Our plans include all suppliers and part numbers needed to order each component.

How It Works and What You Need

The Pedal-A-Watt produces energy in the form of electricity but you probably are wondering how to use that electricity.

If you want to use the energy to power typical, household appliances that "plug in" to a wall outlet you'll need the PowerPak (see Accessories) which stores the energy in a battery and also converts it to typical, 120 volt AC house power. The PowerPak has a regular "wall outlet" type plug and will allow you plug in a TV, stereo, extension cord, etc.

The DC PowerCenter is a voltage converter that is designed to power CD players, walkmans, video games, portable TVs, tape recorders, GPS, hand scanners and radios. Use it with your own battery or one of ours.

If you are a do-it-yourselfer, the Pedal-A-Watt produces 15 to 30 volts DC at up to 8 amperes. You may power suitable items directly and/or charge a 12 volt battery.