CLEAN TECH STARTUP GENERATING ELECTRICITY FROM THE MOTION OF VEHICLES
Hydraulic Based Road-Mounted System Can Harnesses Energy At High Traffic Sites
Boston, MA (Date) – Energy Intelligence has developed an ultra-compact, road-mounted system that harnesses the kinetic energy from moving vehicles to generate electricity.
The system is to be used by sites with high volumes of traffic to power nearby equipment such as lights, cameras, displays, booths, gates, and other electronics, offsetting electricity that would otherwise be purchased from the grid.
“We’d love to see all forms of renewables, including wind turbines and solar panels, improve and become more competitive over time,” said Daniel Shani, Founder and CEO of Energy Intelligence, Inc. “However, in the meantime, we’re focused on leveraging energy wasted by vehicles as a predictable, consistent, and powerful source of clean energy. Our patented technology offers competitive economics and is easy to deploy.”
The system lies flat on top of the road, requiring no excavation. At 10ft wide by 4ft long by 1in tall the system blankets the road surface, resulting in a minimal impact on a drivers experience. When vehicles drive over they pinch embedded hydraulic channels and push pressurized fluid toward a generator, producing anywhere from 250 to 2,000 watts of electricity, depending on the site and its volume of traffic. The system is designed so units can be connected in series to form larger installations and scale output.
With an installed cost, at scale, of roughly $500, payback will range from as few as six months up to two years. Another way to look at it, is the levelized cost, which factors in all the energy produced over the life of the system and all up front and ongoing expenses. This yields $0.07 per kWh, which is very competitive with other forms of generation. This innovative clean energy solution reduces onsite electricity expenses up to 50%.
Although in the development phase, Energy Intelligence is making great progress in bringing this technology to market. Energy Intelligence is currently fine-tuning its third prototype and is on an aggressive schedule to deploy them across a number of field tests at major sites in Boston, MA and Buffalo, NY at the end of this summer.
About Energy Intelligence: Energy Intelligence, Inc. is a privately held company with offices in Boston, MA and Buffalo, NY. Daniel Shani founded Energy Intelligence in 2010 when he got the idea while he was sitting in traffic. Since then, the company has been issued three patents and won numerous awards and competitions, including the 2015 43North Business Competition, receiving $500,000. For more information visit energyintel.us.