Believe it! Just the mere act of stepping onto a special panel actually generates enough electricity to light up an Light Emitting Diode display board.
This special stepping panel is located on the plaza outside Shibuya train station in Tokyo, and will be there until Christmas. It is a 30 X 30 cm square panel that is 2.5 cm thick. It houses a spring-board type power generator that powers a demo LED display.
“A person weighing 60kg (132 lbs) can generate 0.5W by stepping on the panel twice.”
The “power generation floor” was developed by Soundpower Corp. The Soundpower website indicates rental options for various sizes and versions of the panels for research and educational purposes. According to the website, the panels installed at Shibuya station can be rented for JPY 50000.
Source: Ascii.jp via LetsJapan
I think this is a really great form of alternative energy that is even better than solar power. Just imagine the mere act of walking can generate electricity.
That means that all we need to do is to install it all over the entire country and we can have free electricity. Woohoo!
The price of rental is rather expensive.
Cool!
But it’s expensive, that’s for sure,,