Generator

While we've been hearing a lot about wearable piezoelectric devices that produce electricity from people's movements, such gadgets don't work well under certain conditions. A new bioelectric wearable, however, could excel where they falter.

The idea of using human movement to generate electricity is something we've seen applied to many areas, and scientists have now developed a highly efficient form of wooden flooring that leverages this technology to power a lamp with footsteps.

Thermoelectric generators produce an electric current through a temperature gradient. Now, engineers have created a new device that absorbs heat from the Sun on one surface and emits it from another, allowing it to generate electricity day and night.

MIT has developed a device that generates electricity using a completely new mechanism. “Particles” made of carbon nanotubes are dunked in an organic solvent, which induces a current to potentially power small robots or drive chemical reactions.

Aquarius Engines has developed a tiny hydrogen engine it hopes can serve as a range-extender in electric vehicles and as a standalone micro-generator. Weighing just 22 lb, the small, simple engine uses a single moving piston to develop power.

Unlike thermoelectric camp stove/chargers that rely on live fire, the new Gen Stove powers up electronics with waste heat from LPG-fired cooking. It provides an easier, more universal solution for cooking and charging simultaneously.

There are untold energy sources all around us, if we can just figure out how to tap into them. Swiss researchers have now demonstrated an environmentally friendly way to make spongy wood flooring that can generate electricity with every step.

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a new type of wearable electric generator, which harvests energy from the wind as you walk. The team says it’s low cost and efficient enough to power small sensors and LEDs.

Techrules is working to transform the micro-turbine generators powering its 1,300-hp Ren supercar into standalone systems. It'll start with a 45-kW version to wire into commercial electrical grids before shrinking it down for everyday electric cars.

​Remember those "bottle"-type dynamos that rubbed against the side of your bike tire in order to power the lights? Well, they've gotten a high-tech makeover, in the form of the CadenceX generator – its creators say that it can replace the batteries currently needed for all bicycle electronics.

An innovative new method of drawing direct electrochemical energy from seawater means underwater robots, vehicles and detectors could go deeper and longer into the unknown.

Snowy places aren’t ideal for harvesting solar energy – panels can’t do much if they’re buried under blankets of snow, of course. Now a team from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) has developed a new device that can produce electricity from snow itself.