Action on the Field Powers Lights at Soccer Field

.....Billed as Brazil's first player-powered soccer pitch, a field inaugurated Wednesday in a Rio de Janeiro slum harnesses the kinetic energy of players' movements to provide nighttime illumination.

Under the project, sponsored by Royal Dutch Shell, around 200 energy-capturing tiles were installed the width and breadth of the field and covered by a layer of AstroTurf. Working in conjunction with solar panels also installed around the field, the player-powered tiles feed electricity to a system of floodlights overhead.

Action on the Field Powers Lights at Soccer Field

Well, well. Alternative energy - invented by British startup Pavegen, sponsored by Shell. Great stuff. Hopeful.

Players power football pitch lights

Billed as Brazil’s first player-powered football pitch, a field in a Rio de Janeiro slum harnesses the kinetic energy of players’ movements to provide night-time illumination.

Football legend Pele was on hand for the pomp-filled event in the Morro da Mineira slum, which saw a local youth team put the system to the test.

Under the project, sponsored by Royal Dutch Shell, about 200 energy-capturing tiles developed by British startup Pavegen were installed the width and breadth of the field and covered by a layer of AstroTurf.

Working in conjunction with solar panels also installed around the field, the player-powered tiles feed electricity to a system of floodlights overhead.

a reply to: soficrow

Thanks Soficrow. Marvel tech. Can we get these for our chairs so our butts can do stuff like power our computers?

How about streetlights that come on when we walk under them or drive down the road?

Good possibilities.

a reply to: soficrow
I was gonna call BS till I read that it is also powered with solar panels. I was going to say, no way those players are going to produce nearly enough energy to power a bunch of lights. It's a very cool concept, I could imagine if all the roads and sidewalks were also harnessing this kind of technology. It would be very cool.

As an afterthought, I would assume the spectators would be producing way more energy than the players, would probably be a good idea to put those things under where the crowd sits/stands and walks.

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: soficrow

How about streetlights that come on when we walk under them or drive down the road?

YES!

a reply to: soficrow

They'd never go for it. It would mean they don't need nuclear power anymore to power all those city lights at night.

Whoops, there goes another energy saving device!