Features and Specifications
Burn Time – Approximately 45 minutes on high and 3.5 - 4 hours on low from a full charge (burn time is the duration of light output from each charge). If charged in the sun, the burn time is a little longer (about 45 minutes on high) than if charged with the AC or Car charger (about 41 minutes on high) - this is because when the supercapacitors are charged slower - they fill up with electricity better than when charged quickly. If you charge the Ecolight with the AC or Car charger and you want it to be completely full, just leave it in the sun for another 5 - 10 minutes and the supercapacitors will fill all the way - however for most uses this is not necessary. The brightness on low is adequate for reading or walking at night - it is not super bright, but very handy for times when you need a longer burn time.
Beam – The beam of the Ecolight is focused by a fixed reflector to provide a very bright all-purpose beam of light that works well for close up and distant work. On high, the beam will illuminate well an object at about 100 feet. The brightness is brighter than a 2 D-cell Maglite flashlight with a standard bulb. The output of light is designed to be brightest for the first 1/2 of the charge cycle and then the light gradually dims as the power is used up during a particular charge. You will be able to tell that you need to recharge the Ecolight when the light is getting noticeable dimmer.
LED - The LED in the Ecolight is a 1 Watt LED. It is rated to last 50,000 hours and is very rugged. The light is a very bright and white light without the blue light that was seen in some of the early high-brightness LEDs. Lumen output is about 50.
Solar Charged – The Ecolight has a crystalline solar panel in the handle that will charge it fully in about 70 minutes . It is coated with epoxy for protection and it is recessed slightly in the handle to further protect it. These types of solar panels last at least 20 years with very little efficiency loss. Rest it horizontally for solar charging when the sun is high in the sky, or stand it on the front face when the sun is low in the sky. It is not critical to have the solar panel facing perfectly with the sun; as long as the sun is hitting it fairly well, it will generate plenty of energy to charge the Ecolight. You can charge the Ecolight by leaving it on windowsill inside you home, or if left in a well-lighted room ( not in direct sunlight) it will trickle charge it and help keep it charged.
AC and Car chargers – These chargers will charge the Ecolight very quickly – in about 4 minutes (this fast charge is because supercapacitors can take a charge very quickly). The AC charger is a cord that connects the Ecolight to a USB port on any computer. A standard desktop computer USB port connection will charge the Ecolight fully in about 4 minutes, some laptop computer USB ports will be take little longer because some put out less power to the USB port. We sell an AC charger cord and a Car charger on this website. You do not need to buy one of these, as the solar panel is all you need to charge the Ecolight. However, if you want the ability to quickly charge the Ecolight in a few minutes at home or in your car (ie. Camping for example), these are items to have. If you buy the Car charger, the AC charger cord comes with it as you need it to make the Car charger work and this AC charger cord will also work to charge the Ecolight from your computer. The Car charger only has a USB port on it (no cord) and the voltage and amperage output is the same as a computer so you can charge other devices with this charger such as ipods and cell phones that use a USB port for charging. You can use the Ecolight AC charger cord plugged into other chargers with a USB port to charge the Ecolight - for example, plug it into iPod and iPhone chargers to charge the Ecolight.
Supercapacitors – The ultra capacitors used in the Ecolight replace batteries. We use two 120 farad, hybrid supercapacitors in the Ecolight. These capacitors are RoHS Compliant. They are rugged, can be recharged very quickly and should have a working life of 30,000 recharge cycles (this = 1 charg per day for 82 years) or more and a working life of 20 - 30 years (this is based on testing by John Miller - the world's leading expert on super capacitors). In addition, supercapacitors perform very well in temperature extremes - very cold temperatures do not make them sluggish compared to batteries. For comparison, the shake up flashlight that has been available in the U.S. market for a number of years uses a 1 farad 5.5 volt super capacitor; our supercapacitor power storage is 60 farad at 4.6V (the farad value goes to 1/2 because they are wired in series); 60 times greater which enables the Ecolight to produce a much brighter light and much longer burn time.
Holding a charge – If after a full charge, you leave the Ecolight in your house where there is some natural and or man made light, it will keep the charge up by the light converted by the solar panel. If you leave it where it gets a little sunlight on the solar panel, it will stay fully charged. After a full charge, the Ecolight will loose 50% of its stored power after 30 - 40 days if the solar panel is not exposed to light.
Ergonomics – The Ecolight fits ergonomically and comfortably in your hand and the switch is ergonomically designed to operate with a forward motion by your thumb for all positions – High, Off and Low. This is the easiest movement for your thumb. The Ecolight is very light (6 ounces) compared to other flashlights of its size because super capacitors are about 1/3 the weight of batteries.
Case – The case is made of a high quality recycled plastic similar to the strength and durabiltiy of plastic that good quality power tools are made of. The front and back are made from recycled rubber with UV protection to prevent sun damage.
Electronics – We have designed our own high efficiency patented circuitry which pulls the most power out of the supercapacitors in each charge cycle and also allows for the fast charges in the sun or with the chargers. Our solid-state circuitry is more efficient that a microchip, and this is how we are able to get 45 minutes of very high-brightness light per charge from our super capacitors. We developed the charging circuit so that the Ecolight could be charged with a cable to a computer USB port rather than requiring its own separate charger - this way, no electricity is wasted when not charging because a wire to a USB port does not draw any extra electricity (compared to many chargers when not in use but plugged in still use some electricity). The cost for about 50 recharges from the AC charger = about 2 cents at current electricity prices. All the electronics in the Ecolight are RoHS (the Restriction of Hazardous Substances) compliant. RoHS is often referred to as the lead-free directive, but it restricts the use of the following six substances: Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, Hexavalent chromium, Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB), and Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE). PBB and PBDE are flame-retardants used in several plastics.
Drop Test - We dropped the Ecolight 6 times from 3 feet (flashlight industry standard testing) onto solid concrete and it still worked perfectly after these 6 drops - we dropped the Ecolight in different positions for each drop so it would hit on the front, the back, and all sides including the solar panel side. We observed only some small dents/scratches in the plastic case where the plastic case hit the concrete directly; no cracks or separations in the case were seen. Impacts to the front and rear showed no signs of distress because they are made of rubber. One small dent was found on the switch knob, but the switch still worked perfectly.
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