Cree, Inc.

How LED lights made my “solar-powered lucky owl” come to life

Posted by Ginny Skalski

When I was visiting San Francisco last year, I took the ferry to Sausalito to explore for the afternoon. I came across an eclectic gift shop and bought a “solar-powered lucky owl” to remind me of the trip. The light, hitting a small solar panel, was supposed to make the owl hypnotically shake its head from side to side.

But when I got back to North Carolina and took my “lucky owl” out of the package, I found out mine was broken (or so I thought). I set it on a windowsill in direct sunlight and the owl didn’t give a hoot. He remained perfectly still. I put him on my refrigerator, only a few feet from the fluorescent bulbs that lit up my former apartment, and he still didn’t shake his head.

I packed the owl away when I moved out of my apartment (he was too cute to get rid of, even if he didn’t work). Then, a few weeks ago, when I was looking for some decorations to spruce up my cube, I came across the owl. I took him to work and before I knew it, the frozen owl was shaking his head from side-to-side!

Could it be that my owl prefers bright and beautiful LED lighting to the fluorescent lights in my old kitchen or the sunlight the beamed down on him from the window? Watch how active he is now:

I’m not sure what the deal is. All I know is that my owl hasn’t stopped shaking his head since he moved into my LED-lit cube. And that makes me happy.

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