Light bulbs that stay on even in a blackout – SmartCharge LED

Innovation is at the centre of all good technology, and innovation comes from good ideas.  Here’s a solution to a genuine problem – blackouts.  Don’t you hate it when the power goes down in the street or suburb and you have to find your torch or candles – well a new SmartCharge LED bulb is being developed and it’s on show here at CES in Las Vegas.

The idea is actually simple.  Put a battery in the bulb.  Yep, a battery.  So when the power goes out, the bulb just keeps going.

Inside the SmartCharge LED bulb will be a battery with 4 hours charge so you’ll get through most of those common blackouts.

The simple idea becomes genius when you realise that even while you’re in a blackout the switch on the wall still works.  Brilliant!

Yep, because the switch just completes a circuit, the battery in the bulb is triggered by the same standard wall switch, so you can save the battery by turning it off when not needed.

When the power comes back, bingo, the battery recharges.

The SmartCharge LED is a Kickstarter project which has already passed its funding target so the first bulbs should go out in April – let’s hope it goes so well we get a version made available for Australia.