People-Powered Lighting: How Pavegen Creates Affordable Off-Grid Electricity in Cities
Laurence Kemball-Cook, the founder of Pavegen, had a straightforward yet ambitious goal: to produce affordable off-grid electricity in urban areas. He explored innovative solutions like solar and wind-powered street lighting. However, these renewable energy sources didn’t prove efficient in densely populated urban landscapes, where the presence of tall buildings limits their effectiveness.
Despite this, Kemball-Cook recognized one abundant resource in cities: the kinetic energy of moving people. With a background in industrial design and a passion for sustainability, Kemball-Cook spent five years developing prototypes for a system that could transform the kinetic energy from foot traffic into usable power.
Many thought his ideas were too ambitious, yet the breakthrough came with the realization of flywheel technology’s potential. The technology ensures that one step could spin the flywheel for up to 10 seconds, providing a consistent power supply, a feature beneficial for battery life.
When multiplied by thousands of footsteps, the power output becomes significant. This technology was put to the test during the London 2012 Olympics, where a temporary walkway fitted with Pavegen tiles was used to power the lighting. The success of this trial led to Pavegen installations in 250 sites across five countries, proving the potential of people-powered lighting.
Image credit goes to Pavegen.
