PROJECTS > GIANT LIGHTBULB – ANAHEIM

At the Anaheim Sustainability Education Center, visitors do not just learn about energy. They generate it.

ELECTRIC PEDALS, in collaboration with design partner VAST, designed and built a human powered giant lightbulb installation. Eight bikes and two hand-cranks supply live electricity to 528 individually controlled LED bulbs. Each visitor sees their own real-time power output, measured and displayed through custom circuit boards. As collective energy increases, bulbs illuminate from the base upward in a rising spiral. When 1 kW is reached, the entire sculpture lights, making the invisible process of energy visible and shared.

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Installation

  • Human powered giant lightbulb installation within Anaheim Sustainability Education Center

  • 528 individually controlled LED bulbs arranged in a suspended spiral sculpture

  • Eight pedal bicycles and two hand-crank generators supplying live electricity

  • Each participant equipped with a real-time power meter showing individual output

  • Custom circuit boards measuring and distributing power from each generator

  • Bulbs illuminate from the base upward in a sculptural sequence, fully lit at ~1 kW

  • Engineered for continuous public interaction in a museum-grade environment

Impact

  • Visitors saw their personal contribution reflected immediately in the sculpture’s light

  • Shared effort visibly translated into a collective outcome

  • The rising spiral of light became a compelling visual narrative about energy

  • Encouraged participation and collaboration among visitors of all ages

Outcome

  • Delivered a robust permanent installation with custom real-time monitoring

  • Demonstrated precise distribution of human-generated inputs into large-scale output

  • Created a landmark interactive feature within a major sustainability education facility

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