Premiata l'invenzione sudafricana per conservare e utilizzare l'energia generata pedalando

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Created on Tuesday, 13 November 2012 08:44

Un'invenzione sudafricana che consente di conservare l'energia generata pedalando per poterla poi utilizzare in altri modi ha vinto il Premio di Design Red Dot "Best of the Best 2012", superando migliaia di progetti presentati da inventori di tutto il mondo. Il premio è andato alla società Ideso. Il Premio Red Dot è stato istituito nel 1955 a Singapore ed è uno dei più ambiti al mondo. La novità assoluta dell'invenzione sudafricana è che l'energia prodotta pedalando può essere conservata e accumulata per poterla successivamente utilizzare come carica trasportabile in un qualsiasi altro ambiente. La Ideso sta ora cercando capitali per cominciare la produzione di massa del suo congegno (foto).

SA 'Pedal Power' invention wins international design award

South African product design consultancy, Ideso, has beaten thousands of international products to win the coveted Red Dot ‘Best of the Best 2012’ Design Award for its transportable PowerPac invention that stores human energy generated during cycling for later use, for charging or providing power to household and personal electronic devices.

Established in 1955, the Singapore-based Red Dot awards recognises world-class design achievements and is one of the world’s most sought-after international seals of design quality.

While human power generation and storage is not new, IDESO’s PowerPac is the world’s first product to offer a removable power storage unit that becomes a portable charging unit for use anywhere in the home or office.

"With 58 countries competing, it’s great to receive this prestigious accolade, especially as we are only the fourth South African company to win in the last 57 years," says Ideso MD, Marc Ruwiel.

"Our aim was to create an aesthetically pleasing, user friendly and functional design that marries the fluidity of cycling with dynamic power generation," he explains. "It can be used by avid cyclists who can reduce CO2 emissions and generate their own electrical power, while enjoying a good workout at home."

He points out that an average cyclist could fully charge the battery from empty with 80 minutes of cycling and 132Wh of charge/potential energy can be stored in the battery which, for example, can be used to fully charge or power an iPhone, a power tool, a PC, a tablet and a camera, all from this stored personal energy.

The PowerPac features two housings to contain the required components. The larger housing is split into a front and a back cover that contains the permanent magnet DC generator and the charge controller. The smaller battery housing is split into a top and a base cover and contains the 12V battery with a capacity of 11Ah, a DC to AC inverter and various energy output options: 220V AC (conventional plug), 12 DC (cigarette lighter) and 5V DC (USB).

"Industrial design does not get a lot of recognition or support in South Africa, even though we do great design work here," says Ruwiel, whose company designs for a range of well known local and global brands including Shell, GE, Tellumat, Addis and British American Tobacco (BAT), to name a few.

Ruwiel says that the award gives the PowerPac concept and IDESO a great deal of credibility and it comes at a good time, as Cape Town prepares to host the World Design Capital year-long event in 2014, which will put SA on the global design map.

Ideso is now seeking an investment partner with an existing brand in the cycling industry to enable it to develop the PowerPac product further and get it into mass production.

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