Flooding is dangerous for reasons well beyond the obvious. We’re dependent on functioning water and sewer systems to keep our lives going, not to mention electricity, and both of these get knocked out by floods. So, why not have a power system that works around any sort of flowing water?
The Cappa is a fully recyclable, tiny little water turbine. Here’s a look at it:
The Cappa has a lot going for it even if you don’t need an emergency generator: Five of these things can generate a kilowatt if linked together. On its own, in water running about six feet per second, it’ll still generate 250 watts. And since the water never stops flowing, the uptime for this thing is 100%
That’s impressive just based on the size. Equally impressive is the fact that it stores energy and is pretty much completely unobtrusive in the environment. Lug this thing with you when you go camping by a river, and you’ve basically got a power supply.
Built by Japanese company Ibasei, you’ll start seeing these next year.
Compact ROR Hydrogenerator For Rivers And Streams [Diginfo]