Burn, baby Burn

I've set up my data aquisition system to log the light output of the various LED lights to get an accurate burn time. I'm using the DATAQ DI-194RS -- it was cheap! -- and a high output photovoltaic cell -- that isn't cheap, but I'm borrowing it. The lights are ~47 inches from the solar cell and I have a fan blowing air across them to keep them cool. I do the burn times at night so I have minimal light from other sources. The software logs the data directly into MS Excel.

Whew. Now that the technical part is done, let me tease you with some of the results.

NOTE: The voltages listed on the vertical axis can only be used to compare with other lights in this review. The output from the photovoltaic cell has not been amplified in any way. Also, the cell is less than 1/4 of an inch to a side. This means that the voltage output does not correlate to total light output, only the intensity of the brightest spot.

First off, the CygoLite Hi Flux 200:
This light started to drop off around 100 minutes. However, the light level stayed rather high and the next morning, the LED was still putting out enough light to walk by.

Next up, the Vega, by Light and Motion:
What is interesting here, is that the spot isn't as bright as the Cygo Lite 1W, even though the Vega puts out more light overall. Also, the light got a little brighter as time went on, until the elextronics powered the light to a lower level. Finally, the light turned itself off around 175 minutes.

Finally, until the review is live, the CatEye Triple Shot:
The Triple Shot's output spiked right before the electronics cut the power. Like the Cygo Lite, the Triple Shot was still on the following morning, with enough light to walk by, 9 hours after it was turned on.