EnGoPlanet Plans to Install Smart Streetlights in 10 African Villages That Powered by Sun and Human

Walking is the most common activity in day-to-day life. When a person walks, he/she loses energy to the road surface in the form of impact, vibration, sound, etc, due to the transfer of his/her weight onto the road surface, through footfalls on the ground during every step.   

In past, the human energy has been harnessed through many ways to convert to the usable form such as generating electricity.  

The utilization of waste energy of foot power with human power is very much relevant for highly populated countries where the roads, railway stations, bus stands, temples, etc.   

Images credit: EnGoPlanet  

Renewable Energy is all around us but we do not have the right infrastructure in place to harvest that energy.   

EnGoPLANET is a New York City-based clean-tech start-up, and the company aims to become a leader in the off-the-grid street lighting industry.  

It was created after the hurricane Sandy, during which half of Manhattan had no power for almost 7 days. The fact that one of the most important cities in the world did not have a proper alternative to provide its citizens with energy for their basic needs was disconcerting.   

Images credit: EnGoPlanet

EnGoPlanet team decided to do something that helps people to charge the gadgets using renewable energy sources.

  Petar Mirovic, CEO of EnGoPLANET, said, “No corner of the planet and no sector of the global economy will remain unaffected by climate change in the years ahead. Currently, street lights in the world release more than 100 million tons of CO2 per year.

Our generation has the moral responsibility to transform our energy system. EnGoPLANET’s Street Light solution will revolutionize the way we illuminate streets. It will reduce CO2 consumption by using only renewable energy sources and also lowers maintenance bills. With many new features, these street lights will make cities smarter.”  

He added, “If you look at traditional street light poles, you will see that they are useless. They simply hold the lighting. With our solution, we’ve changed that by incorporating useful features into the pole and transforming it into a free service spot where people can rest, charge their portable devices, or connect to WiFi.”  

In a bid to become a more sustainable community, EnGoPlanet has recently collaborated with Las Vegas city and denoted some solar-cum-human powered street lamps to the city.   

EnGoPlanet’s pads generate electricity when pedestrians step on a tile, the pressure creates kinetic energy that is converted into electricity up to seven watts per footstep and stored into batteries, in turn, lights up the lamps at night.   

Alternatively, the solar panel installed on top of the streetlights also harness energy along with human energy.  

The street light solution is also equipped with sensors that collect real-time data. The USB ports and Wireless Charging pad incorporated into the pole are additional useful features of the product.  

Smart Solar Bench (Image credit: EnGoPlanet)

A smart solar bench from EnGoPlanet is based on the same principle of the solar panels. The panels capture the sun energy and then convert it to power that can be used to function home appliances.   

According to EnGoPlanet team, there are more than 300 million streetlights around the world that cost more than 40 billion dollars to run. These lights release more than 100 million tons of carbon dioxide every year.  

In order to product, ship and install EnGoPlanet smart streetlights for 10 areas in Africa, the crowd fund-raising campaign is currently live at Indiegogo for a goal of $ 300,000. The fund will be used for the production, shipping and installation of at least 60 units, says EnGoPlanet. (Source: EnGoPlanet)