Commuting by bicycle saves a lot of money, improves your health, and is probably one of the quickest and most effective ways to reduce carbon emissions. Instructables user SamSmith 17 has made use of EL wires to give his bike a different look by illuminating at night, and also solving the problem of night riding.
First, we must know what actually an EL wire is. Electroluminescent wire (often abbreviated to EL wire) is a thin copper wire coated in phosphor which glows when an AC Current at about 90-130 volts is applied to it. Around this coated copper wire, two extremely sleek copper wires are wrapped loosely and the whole thing is in a plastic covering.
To power these EL wires, pure muscle power or more precisely pedal power was used instead of costly and cumbersome batteries. Pedal power is the transfer of energy from a human source through the use of a foot pedal and crank system. Less commonly pedal power is used to generate electricity. But since it had many economical as well as ecological benefits, it was brought into use. Along with that, an old stepper motor was used to light EL wire. The EL wire had the luminescence that faded off or shined on with the speed of the bike. And even there is a slight change in the color whenever there is a change in the frequency of AC signal.
Image Credit: Makezine
Via: Instructables
