new Silicone Sheets that Generate Power when Flexed

this is intresting:

http://www.dailytech.com/Engineers+Create+Silicone+Sheets+that+Generate+Power+when+Flexed/article17538.htm

anyone have some creative ideas to create the "flex"?

Comments

  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    Re: new Silicone Sheets that Generate Power when Flexed

    The problem is that this takes energy to create electricity... So if you put this in your shoes to create a "relatively large" amount of power--You would be exerting extra energy to walk run--sort of like walking on sand vs a hard surface.

    However, if you had places where you needed dampening--this would then be 'free energy" instead of using "shock absorbers" (hydraulic dampening).

    The issue is that most designs attempt to be energy efficient and anything requiring damped motion should be a a minimum already.

    If your power requirements are low (such as implanted medical devices, mp3 players, etc.) then it could be very useful.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset