Continue to Site

Welcome to our site!

Electro Tech is an online community (with over 170,000 members) who enjoy talking about and building electronic circuits, projects and gadgets. To participate you need to register. Registration is free. Click here to register now.

  • Welcome to our site! Electro Tech is an online community (with over 170,000 members) who enjoy talking about and building electronic circuits, projects and gadgets. To participate you need to register. Registration is free. Click here to register now.

Old Eti article

Status
Not open for further replies.

bigkim100

Banned
I remember a Elector...or ETI article (one of the European Hobbiest mags) about generating electriciy from the plants in the garden. I have since lost it, but seeing how there are Supercaps, and Joule thiefs, and other tricks developed to light a LED from practically nothing, this may be something interesting to light LED garden lights from.
I dont really rememberer the article...anyone have a copy...and what do you guys think of this.
I remember that it was written by a REVREND....something, and that he is actually quite a prolific writer for Europen Hobby Mags.
 
One electrode goes in the dirt, one electrode is attached to the top of the plant. The voltage/current is incredibly low. Just like a potato battery only it's live bio-electricity. The current would be way too low and impractical to get it high enough to light an LED lighting as each plant has to be fully electrically isolated. I can't recall where I read it but someone did this with about a dozen plants in a 'battery' and manage to power a small LCD clock, like a potato battery, only with less current voltage per cell.
 
Last edited:
Ok, sorry... for some reason, I thought that there was a bit more voltage or current being produced than from your standard potatoe battery.
As I said, the article was a long ways back....so my memory isnt as good as it could be.
 
Believe me, if there were usable energy there there's a VERY good chance someone would have already tried to do it =) Would make a novel project, to try different plants to find out if there was a voltage constant. I don't think the voltage was dependant on plant height, just on type.
 
Last edited:
I remember that it was written by a REVREND.
Sorry, I can't help you with your specific article, but that sounds like Rev. Thomas Scarborough. I have seen many of his circuits in various magazines over the years. though a quick google came up with this;
**broken link removed**

Edit: Have a look at this;
**broken link removed**
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest threads

New Articles From Microcontroller Tips

Back
Top