Around your home you probably have power outlets in each room that you plug in your TV, washing machine, dish washer, oven, mobile phone chargers and a whole lot more. Every one of these devices are designed to draw power from the socket so they can be powered. Inlets are a new idea which reverse that trend.
Power Inlets are a way in which you can feed electricity back in to the system rather then sucking it out. The idea is just in concept stages at the moment but given time could make a nice difference to what energy we consume and sometimes waste each year. The Inlet was designed by Carla Diana and Jeff Hoefs of Smart Design and they vision being able to plug in devices such as exercise equipment that could potentially generate power for storage back on the grid or somewhere in your home to be used later. Other ideas are ovens which could capture wasted heat to generate electricity which is then fed back in through an Inlet.
Speaking of exercise equipment generation. One such company in Portland, Green MicroGym, is already one step in front of this type of thinking. They retrofitted all their aerobic machines to generate electricity. Now they powering the place on that electricity. Not only that, but they are giving power back to the grid. In fact, each member gets a $10 voucher for local businesses with every 10 hours of working out. I love this idea all around. That’s American ingenuity at work!
Most of us are aware that solar panels can be used to generate electricity as well as using wind power, water power etc… The Inlet is just another way that we can actually give back. The idea has my support as it’s fantastic!
Via: Go Paul Tech
I love this idea. Standardizing the technology will be the key to it becoming popular and affordable (and safer too). It’s too much of a craft at the moment.
I’d really like to generate energy from spent heat out of the back of my log fire.
Maybe generate energy from waste food too – just like the mad doctor at the end of back to the future!
I agree. This is a great idea. I hope one day to see this type of socket in every home.