Greenly - Green Blog

We live in a world that relies on electricity to power our homes, transportation, and in our increasingly tech-savvy world, gadgets.  Everything from your iPod, cellphone and other handheld devices all require electricity to power them for your use.  Cleveland-based Tremont Electric has developed a greenovation that could remove 25.4 million kilowatts of power from the grid, approximately the amount of power needed annually for 21,000 households.

The device is called the nPower PEG (Personal Energy Generator) that transfers the kinetic energy of your walking, running, or other body movement to charge any USB 2.0 powered device.  Tremont says the PEG can charge most handheld devices up to 80% with just one hour’s worth of walking.

The nPower PEG uses kinetic energy from the movement of your body to charge USB handheld devices like your cellphone or iPod.

Backpacking Appalachian Trail Sparks Idea

The story of the PEG’s invention is an interesting one.  From Tremont Electric’s website:

Aaron LeMieux, the inventor of nPower™ technology and founder of Tremont Electric, conceptualized the idea for the nPower™ PEG while backpacking on the Appalachian Trail. As Aaron walked the trail, he became increasingly aware of the up and down movement of his backpack. His experience as a mechanical and biomedical engineer allowed him to recognize the excess of kinetic energy that was being expelled by his backpack, and he began to work through potential solutions for harvesting this wasted energy.

In 2006, Aaron quit his job as a consultant to Alcoa and began working full-time on developing a device that could harvest this energy to create usable power. Aaron turned his family’s basement into a laboratory, and in March of 2007, he filed his first patent application for nPower™ technology. By July that same year, Aaron had working prototypes and the technology was validated through third party testing.

After countless hours testing and developing the technology, products, and company, today Tremont Electric is proud to announce that the nPower™ PEG is ready to power your handheld devices as you walk, run, or bike.  Become “nPowered” today!

Large Potential Market

Tremont Electric says market research shows the initial potential market of 23.2 million Americans who carry mobile electronic devices and walk approximately one hour per day.  Based on this, the PEG could remove 25.4 million kilowatts of power from the grid–the collective annual electricity needed to charge 23.2 million cell phones at 3 watts for one hour per day.  All this energy savings is equivalent to the amount of power needed annually for 21,000 households.

Does PEG Save More Energy Than It Uses?

While such kinetic energy devices sound great in theory, Tremont Electric has yet to divulge how much energy it actually takes to produce the PEG, and if the device itself would create more energy over its expected lifetime than it takes to make it.

Still, if you walk often and carry many electronic devices, the PEG may be for you.  Officially available in 6 months, Tremont Electric is currently taking pre-orders at its website.  The PEG is expected to retail for $149 USD.

So what do you think?  Would you use such a device?  Do you think it takes more energy to create the device than the device actually saves overall?  Let us know in the comments below.