Solar-Powered Water Heater

This unit uses fluorescent light tubes painted black to heat water to 80C (175F) for domestic use. The tank on top can hold 50 liters of water and uses locally available materials such as roofing sheet, pots, and a standard faucet. The unit is considerably cheaper than imported units and allows households to have warm water for bathing without needing to use fuelwood or charcoal.

Drip-Irrigation Tube Maker

Bernard has designed a system for producing tubes that can be used to make a drip irrigation system for using water more efficiently in agriculture and allowing farmers to grow more crops in their area. The system is designed so that an entrepreneur can produce drip irrigation systems for their community and sell them for a profit.

Bicycle-Powered Phone Charger

This device allows people without access to electricity to charge their cell phones using their bicycles. It is especially relevant in rural areas, where villagers often pay inflated prices to charge their phones through vendors that have a monopoly on electric power.

Bicycle-Powered Grain Mill

We are working to develop a bicycle-powered grain mill for the Global Cycle Solutions product line. This simple design allows people removed from the grid to produce flour so that they can cook the local staple ugali. The design runs off the GCS Universal Adapter and uses a mill with grinding plates to produce flour that is fine enough for cooking.

Pedal-Powered Drill Press

Bernard has designed this system for areas where an electrical drill press is not an option, this design takes a drill press and connects it to a pedal-drive so that the user can control the speed of the drill. The system is a great option for setting up a technology workshop in remote communities.

Bicycle-Powered Juicer

During our workshop in Uganda, one of the projects that came out of the sessions was a bicycle powered juice blender. The blender is made from locally available parts and allows for entrepreneurs to start a business selling fresh juice around the community. Known as “Pedal Juisi”, this machine can blend 20 cups of juice in 5 minutes and pays for itself after selling 40 cups of juice. It currently sells for $12.50 USD.

Bicycle-Powered Charcoal Grinder

As firewood becomes more scarce, people are looking for alternative sources for making charcoal. There have been successful projects using corn cobs and coconut husks (as well as other crop residues), but it is difficult for these materials to compete with wood charcoal because it is harder to produce briquettes that can be used for cooking. In order to simplify this process, we have designed a bicycle-powered charcoal crusher that takes the carbonized biomass and crushes it into powder so that it can be easily formed into briquettes. The unit attaches to a standard Tanzanian bicycle and as the rider pedals, the biomass is fed into a wooden hopper where it is crushed by a roller covered in wire mesh. As soon as the crushing is finished, the unit can be removed and the bicycle can be used normally.

Pedal-Powered Hacksaw

Although power saws are beyond the scope of most Tanzanian workshops, this is a great way to simplify the process of cutting metal. The machine uses spare bicycle parts to form the drive and by simply pedalling, you can produce a clean, straight cut.

Bicycle Carriers

Bernard designed this bicycle carrier upon a client's request. The prompt was to build a bicycle addition to make carrying large boxes or cartons of materials feasible. The client works with numerous microentrepreneurs who bike from house to house selling goods.