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The modern geek, like the modern soldier, always needs more power, power for one more device, power for a longer flight, power for those situations where electrical plugs are nonexistent. I have leaned against many walls waiting for the janitors to finish vacuuming and free up the plug.
While the technology has been around for some time, GoalZero makes convenient solar panels that fit onto a backpack or strap to your body. These are designed to charge up a battery pack. By unfolding and exposing a 7” x 14” panel (not exactly a postage stamp), 6-8 hours of sunlight will give you 2-3 hours of cell phone or MP3 usage. Other size panels scale accordingly in performance.
nPower PEG makes a charger that looks like a flashlight tube. It holsters onto your belt and turns foot power into electrical power. PEG converts the kinetic energy of your body into electrical energy. Two springs suspend a magnetic mass that bounces back and forth between a coiled loop. A brisk 15-minute walk can provide a minute or so of cell phone usage. It’s also large enough to be used as a mini-nightstick against those who covet your geek toys.
BionicPower makes a harness that looks like a knee brace. Movement of the knee turns on a little generator. Put one on each knee and you can produce about 12 watts of electricity climbing stairs. An hour’s worth of walking could charge about four mobile phones. Of course, you look like you just came out of of a sports rehabilitation facility, but sacrifices must be made.
Integrating piezoelectric materials into garments has been around for awhile. The concept is getting renewed attention. The movement of the body ekes out electrons. It does have the advantage of potentially capturing more movement.
Universities are replete with students working on nanotechnology for producing electricity. Come to think of it, I have yet to find any no subject that escapes the purported and proposed use of nanotechnology. Fulfillment? Well, we shall see.
Ignoring price, all these devices and others like them have two major shortcomings
1.) They are highly inefficient. What comes out as electrical power is a small fraction of what goes in as kinetic, solar, or other power.
2.) They all require that the energy be stored in a battery. We discussed that problem in the last article. Very few practical devices use so little power that they could be run directly from these chargers.
What we need is an electrical generating capability that has the following properties:
a.) Readily available
b.) Efficient
c.) Continuous
d.) Does not require a battery for storage.
This need is begging for an engineer, physicist, or chemist to solve it. How about you?
Contact: lgivens@thepersuasivewizard.com