Home Green Energy Hydro Power

Blue Freedom – the Smallest Portable Hydropower Plant

640
0

blue-freedomA new tiny portable hydropower plant offers a super fast alternative to solar and kinetic energy powered back-up chargers.

Back-up power devices have grown in popularity over the past few years, as the dependence on new smart phone and electronic technologies has increased rapidly. Everyone “needs” to be always connected and aware of what is going on, putting huge pressure on batteries that power devices.

There are all sorts of portable chargers available out there- solar powered, kinetic-energy powered, even wind powered, but here is a new one- a charger that makes use of flowing water. And before you ask why, imagine yourself in a dense forest, somewhere up in the mountain next to a beautiful waterfall, with just a small glimpse of light penetrating through the leaves- your only source of energy is that water. Why not use it?

A Kickstarter campaign that was launched a week or so ago, gives you the mean that can allow you to do exactly that- harness the energy of flowing water, using the simple and compact, yet super efficient portable hydropower plant- Blue Freedom.

The kit weighs only 0.9-lb (400-g), it is 7.9 x 2.2-in (20 x 5.5-cm) in size, and it comes with a 5,000 mAh battery, which can be fully charged within four hours, at a water flow rate of 1.2 m/sec (2.7 mph). This means that your iPhone 6 will be ready to go in about an hour or two. Now, although these times have been tested in sterile conditions based on a prototype, adding even an extra hour to this would still make it better than most solar kits that provide the same service.

Now, if you think that Blue Freedom will fail you when there is no flowing water, you would be wrong- the kit is anything but a one-trick-pony. Because it is equipped with a microUSB, it can be connected to any source of power, including portable solar panels, giving you the option to still charge your device even if you are away from your source of water.

If you are keen to help the makers bring the device from a prototype to a commercially available product, then go to Kickstarter and give them a boost. You can buy a charging kit for US$219, given that you hurry up a bit (unfortunately the lower offers are all gone, and there are only a few left at this price). Now, if you do not trust the guys that they will complete the deal, but you really like the kit, then give them a few bucks and get a priority on buying the product once it hits the market.

The campaign will be running for another 38 days, but the inventors have already secured more than 80% of their pledged budget.

Image (c) Blue Freedom LLC

(Visited 715 times, 1 visits today)

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.