LED and Solar Lights

June 12, 2009

Protoscar Unveils All Electric Lampo Concept

Last month, another all electric roadster called the Protoscar Lampo was partially unveiled to the public. Aside from a few pieces of information about the power train, Protoscar didn’t give out many details regarding their new sporty EV, however they did say it would be bowing at Geneva and more information would be available just before the show.


The name Lampo comes from the Italian word for lightning. It is supposed to represent power and reference where the Lampo gets its power; electricity. The logo of the vehicle was also designed to mimic the shape and flow of a bolt of lightning.

Power for the Lampo comes from two independent electric motors, one in the front and the other at the rear. Together, the two motors produce 268 horsepower and 325lb/ft of torque. As with all electric motors, that torque is available from 0 rpm. Power goes to all four wheels so there should be no problem getting that much torque to the ground.

Storage for all the power comes in the form of a 32kWh Lithium Ion battery pack. Thanks to the lightweight components used for the Lampo, those battery packs should provide a range of about 125 miles between charges. As with most new EVs, some additional miles can be squeezed out from a regenerative braking system.

Charging the Lampo takes about 12 hours on a 220 volt outlet, which can happen overnight for most people. If you want a faster charge time, Lampo has developed a special accessory that can convert the standard flow of electricity from 16amps to 32 amps, cutting the charge time back to about 6 hours. According to Lampo, such a system could be used to shift the charge time to the off-peak hours when electricity is most abundant.

Protoscar has also linked the Lampo to a solar power plant in Seggiano, Tuscany that is able to produce up to 16 kilowatts of electricity. According to Protoscar, this will help reduce the reliance on outside sources for energy.

Protoscar is also working on a system that uses GPS navigation to estimate how much farther you will be able to travel on the current charge. The system will take into account the topography of the surrounding terrain and incorporate a previously gathered data into the estimation.

More details about the Protoscar Lampo should be available after it is officially unveiled at the upcoming Geneva Auto.

Protoscar , ExpertMotor

June 10, 2009

City Night Lights Create Day Lights In Window Shades

Finish interior designer Elina Aalto has created a novel window shade that comes in cities, instead of colors!

Whether it’s Paris, Tokyo, Stockholm, or Helsinki, the city’s night lights bring day lights into your home in a most delightful way! Aalto’s Better View Blinds reduce harsh light and glare in an artistic pattern that casts interesting shadows into your living areas.

Aalto’s patterns are sequences of square and rectangular cut-outs in her black fabric roll-up window shades. When the fabric is pulled down to shade a window, natural daylight enters through the pattern creating a night time view of a city. This juxtaposition of night upon day is very effective in limiting glare, creating interesting interior shadows, and making a cool, artsy wall design.

Here are some display photos of Better View Blinds in interior design. This first city is “Paris” at night.

June 9, 2009

OLED Television Wallpaper Gives You a Room With a View

Imagine walking into the room of tomorrow… no need to reach for a light switch; the walls are already gently glowing with scenes of an undersea paradise. Hit the remote and one wall transforms into a floor-to-ceiling TV screen or the backdrop to the newest video game.

Sound like a dream? Engineers at Japan’s Toshiba corporation are well on the way to making it reality.

The crux of the biscuit is the wallpaper. Not just ANY wallpaper, of course, this is a specially developed material that utilizes flexible OLED (organic electroluminescence) screen technology to emit light in a controlled manner.

Anything from a featureless glow that serves as room lighting to action-packed movies, TV programs and computer games is possible. Those impressed by the newest flat screen TV wall mounts are sure to do a neck-snapping double take.

Although OLEDs are not new, their low efficiency has been a roadblock to more widespread applications. Toshiba’s answer is nanotechnology.

According to Toshiba spokesman Kaori Hiraki, “The wallpaper uses light that has been redirected by an ultra-fine grating that is fabricated by self-assembled nano particles.” It would seem that the effect might be similar to that of a Fresnel lens like those used in traffic lights, amplifying the intensity without requiring additional energy.

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