Timeline for Why don't they make playgrounds generate electricity?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
9 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2, 2021 at 12:04 | vote | accept | Sergey Zolotarev | ||
| Jul 30, 2021 at 3:37 | comment | added | Technophile | @SergeyZolotarev it's important to be a bit skeptical about articles; journalists may lack understanding, be motivated to get clicks or keep those they are covering happy to see them and willing to talk. IIRC, one talked about piezoelectric energy in terms of the number of 120V wall outlets based on the high voltage -- and completely missed the "at X micro-amps" part. | |
| Jul 28, 2021 at 15:40 | comment | added | DevSolar | @SergeyZolotarev: That BBC article was a little short on actual info, so I searched around a bit for info on piezoelectrics. I see a lot of huge promises around "experiments" (e.g. in Israel), and some actual results of such installations lighting... basically, the installation. Since the advent of LED's, light is very cheap (power-consumption wise); from lighting a lamp to making a contribution to the power net is a huge step. Also, a rolling vehicle is a huge amount of energy compared to a child on a swing. (Try having one crash into the other and see which is sent flying...) | |
| Jul 28, 2021 at 15:12 | comment | added | Sergey Zolotarev | How come it doesn't work, but vibrations from walking do (bbc.com/future/article/…)? | |
| Jul 28, 2021 at 9:11 | comment | added | pjc50 | Don't forget the embedded energy in the generators. There's a good chance that it would never repay the energy involved in making it in the first place. | |
| Jul 28, 2021 at 7:21 | comment | added | eggyal | Actually, on the surface, a 2 year payback does not seem terribly uneconomical: playground equipment tend to have lifespans measured in decades rather than years. But obviously they won’t be used 24x7; plus, as you say, they wouldn’t be fun to use and/or the generator components will break much sooner than playground equipment otherwise would. | |
| Jul 28, 2021 at 4:08 | comment | added | minnmass | @SergeyZolotarev: the financial payback period on the equipment would be functionally infinite. The biggest swing set I recall seeing has maybe 10 swings; assuming 10 children swing 24 hours a day (which is generous), that's $1.40 in electrical production; if the generator bits add $1000 to the cost, that'll take 714 days - almost 2 years - to pay off. In that time, the kids will probably have broken the generator so that the swings are more fun to swing on. And, $deity help you -if-when somebody gets shocked and sues for millions. | |
| Jul 27, 2021 at 20:10 | comment | added | Sergey Zolotarev | But they eat anyway | |
| Jul 27, 2021 at 19:49 | history | answered | Nic | CC BY-SA 4.0 |