Solar roof on the bike helmet: The Poc Omne Eternal lights up without having to connect to the charging cable

Without a light on my helmet, nothing works for me anymore. I am convinced of the usefulness of headlights and turn them on as soon as I get on my bike. Front light, rear light, turn signal - I want everything. For this I accept a little more weight due to the battery and the occasional fumbling with the charging cable. Because the biggest annoyance factor of all gadgets and devices is that they regularly have to be plugged in or need fresh batteries to be ready for use. About how much light and whether it needs turn signals on the bike helmet, you can argue - and like users durhomme be of different opinion. What unites us all is the loading frustration.

The Poc Omne Eternal should change that. Admittedly, he is nowhere near as lushly illuminated as my Lumos Ultra, the Unit1 Faro or the Livall BH51M Neo, whose usefulness the comment above drew into doubt. He has no turn signals at all, but only a small red taillight. Directional it is anyway.

The LED lights up as soon as you wear the helmet and goes off when you take it off again. Such a start-stop automatic is nice, but not new. The unique selling point is that you don't have to worry about charging it. You don't have to expose it to the sun, which wouldn't do the helmet's material any good in the long run anyway. Even from artificial light and natural ambient light indoors, it sucks new energy.

While Poc brings the helmet know-how, another Swedish company contributes the magic: Exeger with its "Powerfoyle." Thin and freely formable, these dye-sensitized solar cells belong to the third generation of photovoltaics - and at this point I don't want to get further tangled up in terms I know little or nothing about. For those who know the subject: This is how "Powerfoyle" is constructed.

European Inventor Award for Exeger

The fact is that Exeger founders Henrik Lindström and Giovanni Fili have succeeded in developing flexible solar cells that require little light and are ready for the market. They received the European Inventor Award for this in 2021. The special feature is that, for the first time, the electrode is located directly behind the light-absorbing layer, technology head Lindström is quoted as saying by cleanthinking.de. This means that more light reaches the cell and more electrical current is generated. Perfect for equipping everyday products such as bicycle helmets or headphones with it and making them self-sufficient.

"Powerfoyle" and the expected practical benefits have been discussed for some time. At digitec in 2019, it was very skeptical but interested about a self-charging headphone and exaggerated promises. And in 2021, people were still a bit skeptical about the charging jack-less life. The Los Angeles model from Urbanista, which is now available, does well and has record-breaking endurance, even if the energy does not yet last forever in artificial light.

Headphones

EUR153,07

Urbanista Los Angeles

ANC, 80 h, Wireless

29

Headphones

EUR153,07

Urbanista Los Angeles

ANC, 80 h, Wireless

29

Big surface, small light

The Poc Omne Eternal will have an easier time living up to its name. Big surface, small light - this calculation should work out. Unlike headphones, you rarely wear the bike helmet indoors, and there will be no shortage of light. This makes it a helmet with integrated LED, where you really don't have to worry about anything. This is ensured by the all-round automatic system, which is hardly noticeable. Cyclingnews has noted just a difference of 25 grams to the base model Omne Spin and praises implementation and idea over the green clover.

In any case, this helmet is a pointer to a wireless future, which should hopefully be bright and as climate-neutral as possible. This will also include repair and recycling options. Because even if the light should last "forever," a bicycle helmet will eventually reach the end of its service life. But it is still at the very beginning. For now, if you're interested in the Omne Eternal, you'll have to wait and see. Maybe it will charge faster than expected, but it will come to market more slowly than planned. Originally, it was supposed to be available in 2021, but now summer 22 is the target.