Umudike Journal of Engineering and Technology

Mobile phones play significant roles on socio-economic and technological development of every nation of the world including Nigeria. The effective use of mobile phone demands that it must be powered at all times. Electricity supply in Nigeria especially in the rural communities has been a major challenge facing all and sundry.   Hence, there is the need for a constant and reliable electricity supply system to power GSM mobile phones if they are to be useful. This work provided an effective means of charging mobile phones in rural communities using pedal driven bicycle, with the advantage of using the same for daily transportation. The charging system, called Dynamo Powered Mobile Phone Charger (DPMPC) was developed using a bicycle dynamo, converting 6 V AC rms, 3 W to 5 V DC, 500 mA sufficient to charge mobile phone battery. Mathematical equations relating mechanical energy in motion to electrical energy development were developed.  A step by step design and implementation of DPMPC circuit was carried out.  Varying the bicycle pedal’s speed, no load and load tests were carried out on the developed system using some elected mobile phones. The maximum voltage output of 5.18 V was recorded on no load, while  output  voltage varying between 4.6 and 4.84 V were recorded when system was charging phone, with an average charging current of  about 400 mA.