Dr Shock's Electrifying Christmas Display Demands For Guinness

Many go to huge lengths to deck out their houses with lights and decorations over the holiday season, but few can claim their complicated displays earned them a Guinness world record.

Australia's very own Dr Shock, Peter Terren, from Bunbury in Western Australia, often uses hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity to create elaborate art he calls "electrickery". The country doctor documents his displays on his website and has developed a universal cult following.

Terren's Christmas projects are some of his favourites - last year he formed a nine-metre high Christmas tree using lightning-like sparks from a tesla coil and long-exposure photography; this year he's strapped a Christmas tree to a bicycle with a front light that is so prevailing it could be seen from the International Space Station with the same intensity as a bright star (when pointed at the sky). "I would love to send some Morse code to the International Space Station," said Terren, 54.

He has applied to Guinness for the "world's brightest bike light" record, saying he has done his research and, at 100,000 lumens, his making is five times brighter than any other bike light he's seen.

"The current world record holder in Guinness looks pale by contrast," he said.

His 2010 Christmas rig uses 18 high-powered 100 watt LED lights - 15 at the front and three at the back to light up the tree. It is powered by three deep cycle industrial batteries weighing over 30 kilograms.