Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: An Ultra-Affordable Pedal Generator for Low Load Applications
EPA Grant Number: SU835697Title: An Ultra-Affordable Pedal Generator for Low Load Applications
Investigators: Lacks, Daniel J , Harris, Evan , Ferre, Ian , Cristiani, Samuel
Institution: Case Western Reserve University
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Phase: I
Project Period: August 15, 2014 through August 14, 2015
Project Amount: $15,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2014) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Challenge Area - Air Quality , P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
Our project is to design and produce an ultra-affordable pedal generator for low-load applications, which will meet a strong need in developing countries in two contexts: (a) rural villages in the most underdeveloped countries, where most of the population lives far from the electrical grid; (b) disaster relief, where large-scale catastrophes (typhoons, tsunamis, earthquakes) leave large segments of the population without electricity for extended periods. The low-load applications are powering LED lights and charging cell phones.
The availability of even miniscule amounts of electricity can often immensely improve people’s lives. While a typical US household may use 50 kWh of electricity per day, access to just 1/10,000 of this amount (5 Wh per day) could transform the lives of the many households that have no electricity. These people would be those living in small villages far from the electrical grid in the world’s most underdeveloped countries, or those left without electricity due to a natural disaster (e.g., typhoon) in a developing country where repair of the electrical infrastructure may take months. With this small amount of electricity, these people would be able to have some light at night and to charge their cell phones (their lifeline to family and friends), which would have a tremendous positive impact on their lives. Many of those in need of this electricity would be very poor, and have very little money to spend. Thus there is a need for an ultra-affordable device to provide on-demand electricity for lowload applications such as LED lights and cell phone charging.
Our innovative idea is to create a device that combines four key features – ultra-affordability, convenience-to-use, environmental-friendliness and on-demand electricity – that are not available in combination in any competing product.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
The team has made substantial progress both in (a) the technical design and construction of the device, and (b) the development of partnerships to help test and launch the product in the identified launch markets.
The device operates by converting up-and-down pedal motion to one-way rotational motion of a flywheel; the conversion of the rotational motion of the flywheel to electrical energy; and the use of the electrical energy to power lights or to charge a cell phone.
Partnerships have been developed to help the team test the product in the two market segments that will be targeted: Off-grid villages in Africa, with Lesotho as the launch market; and disaster relief in developing countries, with the Philippines as the launch market. The team traveled to Lesotho in January 2015 and spent the week interacting with partners from the National University of Lesotho as well as spending 3 days in an off-grid village to experience firsthand the lifestyle in such a village. For the Philippines, partnerships have been solidified with the University of San Carlos and the Philippines Development Foundation.
Conclusions:
At this stage we are 6 months into Phase I, and our project is on track and progressing as expected:
On the technical side, we have the separate components of the device working: (a) Using SolidWorks CAD we have designed the mechanism to convert up-and-down pedal motion to one-way rotational motion, with the rotational rate increased by a factor of 32 by a series of gears; (b) We have used 3d printing to produce these mechanisms; (c) We have developed a testing methodology for motors, and found an inexpensive motor that could be adequate; (d) We have shown that the 1-2 W of power can charge a cell phone and power LEDs strong enough for reading. Our next step is to combine the components to create a fully functional device, and which we are confident will be completed in time for the P3 Expo one month from now.
On the business side, we have (a) brought in a team member with expertise in business and finance; (b) developed strong partnerships in Lesotho which will allow us to launch our product to rural villagers living far from the electrical grid; (c) expanded the target market segments to include disaster relief as well as off-grid villagers; (d) developed strong partnerships in the Philippines that will allow us to launch our product there for disaster relief applications.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 1 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
Alternative energy source, renewable energyP3 Phase II:
An Ultra-Affordable Pedal Generator for Low Load Applications | 2016 Progress Report | 2017 Progress Report | Final ReportThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.