Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - cheap generators or solar powered lights

I have a feeling I'm about to get involved with local charity that fixes bikes for homeless people.

thinking about the light thing, I realize what a pain batteries are if you are broke or have no place to charge rechargebles.

Any ideas on sources for inexpensive generator lights or if solar power lights work at all ?

thanks

Forget solar power that entails internal contradiction. The lights are generally most important in winter when the sky though tends to be dark during the day and the solar cells yield minuscule power.

Have you seen the Sanyo hubs from Peter White Cycles? $40.

There's also these ultra cheap dynamo and light combos (http://www.yellowjersey.org/lolite.html) from Yellow Jersey.

reelights are probably the best option.

There are plenty of old bottle generators out there. Try checking with local bike collectors, or any coops in your neighbourhood.

Finding lights to go with them is the harder part. I think there are a couple of cheap be-seen dynamo lights out there, but it might be cheaper just to give them a bunch of dealextreme blinkys than to set up a dynamo system.

You can buy cheap dynamo sets on Ebay, but shipping can double the price. Otherwise, local hypermarkets that carry bicycles may have cheap dynamo sets. A problem with the battery sets is that once the batteries run out, a homeless person might not buy fresh ones. I think that providing homeless with bicycles is a very good idea. In my observations in Japan, the community would provide the homeless with a decent winter jacket, a sleeping bag and a bicycle with lights, fenders and a basket.

New inexpensive bottle generator sets are still available and, in my experience, they work fairly well as long as they are installed properly. Here's an example of one on Amazon for $9:
http://www.amazon.com/Kent-96049-Generator-Light-Set/dp/B003H3Z8CW/ref=pd_sbs_sg_1
It won't be super bright, but much better than not having a light at all or one with dead batteries.

Wind Powered Bike Safety Lights (Battery-free) Price: $3.68

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12927

check out the review :D

Pros: i bought this only to see if it really works.
it really works! it has blue and red leds and when wind is blowing
it generates electricity.


Cons: plasitc quality is really low and color is pink. good for a little girl.