Product Inspiration

In this picture, the light bulbs aren’t connected to anything at all- just mounted to stand up straight. Notice the big power lines above, well, the strong electromagnetic fields given off by the power lines provide enough energy to light all of these bulbs alone.

The analogy and takeaway here is huge- there’s electromagnetic fields all around us, especially in urban areas, and these fields are prime picking for ‘free’ energy to power electronic gadgets. Now, before we get ahead of ourselves, the power isn’t normally substantial enough to run a cell phone or other device. Luckily, a team at MIT found a way to send usable wireless power through EM waves to gadgets by focusing on particular frequencies.

Perhaps we could modify conventional power lines and home wiring to target specific resonant frequencies in the same way. Its early in the game, but this could really revolutionize how we power all of our many electric devices within the next 10 years. Then, at least you could get something out of the cancer-causing fields all around us!

http://gizmodo.com/361390/1301-florescent-bulbs-lit-solely-by-magnetic -fields

No, the title is not an oxymoron, a not-so-new technology called “ammoniac-water absorption technique” is making a comeback to provide a sunlight-powered cooler for keeping food and beverages cold in places away from grid power. This method has been known for quite some time, though little has been done with it outside of flame-powered devices. Lets hope that changes, and we all get sun-powered coolers for those hot Texas summers in the near future.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3106924,00.html via DVICE

As most of your already know, there is a LOT of R & D resources being put into ethanol these days. Here’s one development in particular that seems a good candidate for success. Like other promising methods, it can take a huge range of feed stocks (from food processing by-products to sewage waste), and does the conversion through specially engineered bacteria that consume the processed feedstock and excrete ethanol. Unlike some other promising methods though, this system is both cost effective and immediately ready for deployment.

http://www.wired.com/cars/energy/news/2008/01/ethanol23

Technorati : bacteria, ethanol

This system, which has been in the works for a few years now, harnesses wind power to save fuel costs for big ocean-going shipping vessels. A large kite-like sail is attached to the ship, and provides extra power to get the boat across the ocean in less time and fuel costs. The first of these sails (which are being developed by multiple different companies) will set sail this year.

Here’s my two favorite things about this technology:

1) Its practically ‘money for nothing’- the system pays for itself in 3 years, and the user reaps the profit for every year thereafter which it is still functional.

2) It borrows from the older version of the same product. While it doesn’t happen often, sometimes the best innovations for a current product (intercontinental shipping) may be inspired by an outdated design (sailboats) of the same product.

What other products could be improved by applying older design aspects to the current form?

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/12/go_fly_a_kite_from_your_ship.p hp

Piezoelectric materials generate a voltage when compressed, and expand when a voltage is applied to them. This unique effect holds lots of value for generating electricity from everyday motion such as walking and pushing buttons. Unfortunately, the power generated by this material is extremely small, and very few practical applications have been made which are powered by piezo-based generation.

This new material improves both the form and the electrical output of piezoelectric materials, putting them one step closer to lots of real world applications. Instead of the typical thin, fragile strip of crystals, this new material is flexible and robust, capable of performing in a wide variety of conditions. While it will probably not be the market busting breakthrough that piezo enthusiasts such as me are looking for, its a great step in the right direction, and keeps the flame of hope alive that the (practical) walking-powered human computer is not too far away.

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/12/micro-fiber-com.html

For those of you who don’t already know, electric generators are basically motors which are run in reverse. When the shaft of the generator turns, permanent magnets pass near coils of wire, creating an electric charge.

This “new” generator uses a linear generator design to create power as you walk. The up and down motion of your gait makes a permanent magnet bounce up and down inside a cylinder, passing through rings of coiled wire and generating energy. We’ve seen this method in quite a few other recent products, such as the shake-to-charge flashlights, and the power generating backpack (more info here).

This particular development offers much higher efficiency than previous designs, and may bring this science to a point where its practical for the everyday gadgeteer. As these devices improve in power output and size, it may become a great way for consumers to beat that constantly-dead cell phone battery. For us developers, this is a great tool to keep in mind while working on self-powered mechanisms and systems as well.

http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/19777/

While small, wirelessly connected webcams are nothing new, this small camera is actually powered by the soul-crushing white light that comes from the long fluorescent lights which are standard in pretty much every business in the world. Actually, its not powered by the light itself, but rather the magnetic field that these bulbs emit.

Recently, a client of ours almost terminated a project because the cost of connecting the new device to an outlet (or running new electrical wiring) to the gadget’s location was too high. While we were able to solve the problem in a different way, this could have been a great alternative.

Seeing how these lights are so pervasive (and more importantly, identical) across the world, its rather safe to assume that any gadget which connects to them can be installed in basically any business or government. So then, this could be a great development platform for making new powered devices which can be connected to the ceiling. The identical nature of these bulbs could be a great way to get around having to supply different power adapters for each country. Even further, the concept of using some existing magnetic field to power new sensors and add-on electronics could be applied to a bunch of other applications as well.

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2007/12/03/symbiotic-camera-cad.html

Technorati : magnetic field, webcam, wireless

This new advancement by Nanosolar could be the first to actually bring the efficiency of solar power to the point that it directly competes with conventional energy (coal, fossil fuels, etc.). The new technology is a coating, rather than a whole cell, and drops the cost from $3 a watt to 30 cents a watt. Since it is a coating, it can be applied to all kinds of different materials ansd surfaces, and unlike the conventional silicon cells, it is not brittle and will not break easily. And if these benefits are not enough, the material can be printed using roll to roll processing, which practically guarantees cheaper and cheaper costs as time goes on.

Keep an eye on this technology- it may be the breaking point that takes solar energy from novelty to practical large scale power generation.

http://www.celsias.com/2007/11/23/nanosolars-breakthrough-technology-s olar-now-cheaper-than-coal/

Technorati : coatings, nanosolar, solar cells, thin film

Microbial fuel cells take advantage of the byproducts natural(or bio-engineered) bacteria produce when feeding on organic matter. The byproducts range from useable electric current to hydrogen and ethanol, and the feedstocks are usually waste plant matter or even sewage.

This newest innovation uses the science behind microbial fuel cells to power remote sensors on sea turtles. The big difference between this and other microbial fuel cells is that it uses feedstock and bacteria that exist naturally in the wild. In particular, it uses the bacteria which are colonized on the sea floor mud. A chamber attached to the bottom of the turtle grabs some of this bacteria-rich mud when the turtle rests on the ocean floor, and carries it around, using the natural electric current the bacteria generate to power the sensors.

Grabbing useable energy from the environment is a great and upcoming way to generate power. People are doing it by harnessing the movement of bridges, the jostling of animals, and even the natural microcurrent running through trees! Right now, the main problem with these methods is that the power output is very small, and can only be used to power tiny sensors. The improvements in energy efficiency of electronics and the effectiveness of harnessing natural energy will likely lead to more and more useful ways like this to power electronics in the natural world.

http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn12894-mud-microbes-p ower-turtletracking-sensors.html

Technorati : bacterial fuel cell

Solar concentrators are parabolic mirrors which focus sunlight’s intensity onto a small spot, much like satellite dishes. This increases the light and/or heat onto a small area, which means you can have either a smaller solar cell (like is used in this design), or the ability to harness the sun’s heat to generate power (as seen here).

This particular advancement replaces the heavy and expensive polished metallic mirror collectors with lightweight, inflatable collectors. The cost savings from using lightweight materials could add a big advantage for solar energy harvesting. In addition, the concept of making useful structures out of inflatable units seems to be growing in popularity lately.

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1111/