Source: Pavegen, World Architecture News
According to inventor Laurence Kemball-Cook a paving stone on a busy street is stepped on by more than 50,000 pedestrians everyday and he’s seen the light by harvesting that pedestrian power. Every time the rubber Pavegen stone is stepped on, it flexes 5mm and the dynamo technology stores the kinetic energy produced.
The Pavegen System could power lights, computers, automatic doors and ticket machines at tube stations information displays, street lighting, shop frontages, train and bus timetables and wayfinding solutions.
The slab glows when stepped on indicating that energy has been generated to users. Five paving slabs distributed over a section of a pavement will provide sufficient power to illuminate a bus information panel overnight.
Details:
- Retro-fitted into pavement/ flooring in either interior or exterior spaces.
- The public can actively take part in the energy saving process themselves and there is a strong visual link between the slab and a sustainable attitude.
- Depending on the application, the buy back period can be 1 year or less.
Power:
- Each slab generates 2.1 watts per hour when located in an area with high footfall. Based on a hit rate of a footstep every 4-10 seconds.
- Testing at trial sites has shown that 5 hours of walking at peak time will generate enough power to illuminate a bus stop for over 12 hours.
- 5% of the energy generated per footstep is used to illuminate the central low energy LED lamp.
- Energy is stored within Lithium Polymer batteries: opt. A: 1 battery per 5 unit or opt. B: One battery per unit. Depending on functionality of system.
Materials:
- Top surface: recycled rubber car tyres, internal components: recycled aluminium and the exterior housing is marine grade 316 stainless steel.
- Toughened clear glass with an optical film.
Durability:
- The system requires annual servicing and is designed to withstand 5 years of use equating to 20 million steps in interior and outdoor environments.
- Removable gear tray allows hassle free servicing taking just minutes.
- Engineered to withstand harsh winter conditions without corrosion.
Vandalism:
- Anti-tamper stainless steel bolts are used to prevent unauthorised personnel accessing unit.
- Shock absorbing dampeners to prevent damage to mechanism when large vehicles and high impacts affect the pavegen slab.
Installation:
- Retro-fitted into pavement/ flooring in either interior or exterior spaces.
Colours:
- Available in a variety of colours including grey, red, blue and other mixes.
- Custom branding options: To promote your brands sustainability credentials, Logos can be added to central lamp as shown or etched onto glass.
Trials will take place in several locations throughout the UK in early 2010 with local authorities, schools and airports. Pavegen was designed by Laurence Kemball-Cook who is director of Pavegen Systems ltd. Laurence worked on sustainable blue sky research lighting projects while working as an Industrial Design engineer at Eon UK plc. Pavegen is developed in conjunction with Loughborough University and Advanced leds ltd over a two year period.
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