Imagine if every step you took created the electricity that powered the streetlights above you. That is the reality of Pavegen's tiles, which capture some of the energy exerted through footfalls – albeit tiny amounts.
The tiles are a type of kinetic energy recovery system – when you tread on a tile, the surface depresses up to one centimetre, the sensation of which is likened to walking on a soft-fall surface.
Wired reports that the downward force of each footfall drives an energy-storing flywheel inside the tile, which spins to convert kinetic energy into electrical energy through electromagnetic induction.
Pavegen says this process is capable of generating 5 watts of continuous power as you walk across the tile. Earlier iterations of the technology were rectangular, and only produced power when someone’s foot fell in the centre of the tile. The newest edition, V3, is triangular and includes a generator in each corner of the tile.
While the amount of power generated isn’t huge, the technology comes into its own in areas that have constant, heavy foot traffic, such as airports, shopping centres, office towers and stadiums.
So far, the tiles have since been used to help light soccer pitches in Brazil and Nigeria, a hallway in Heathrow Airport, and offices and shopping centers in London.
Pavegen is the invention of industrial design engineer Laurence Kemball-Cook. The CEO and founder developed the concept in 2009, while researching kinetic off-grid energy solutions in environments where low-carbon technologies like solar and wind are not practical.
The company successfully completed its first crowdfunding round on Crowdcube in 2015, raising almost $4 million and accumulating over 1500 investors.
Kemball-Cook says he anticipates the tiles being a seamless part of a digitally-connected city.
“We’ve created a product that can reshape the way people move in our cities,” he says. “With current digitisation, our ability to connect physical and digital worlds through a single footstep places us at the forefront of the footfall energy-harvesting market.”