Agroaldea
The idea aims to harness the energy of something that is always within reach, as a plant.
Three Chilean engineers have succeeded in creating a mobile charger and other similar equipment, that you can charge your battery by simply attaching it to a vegetable plant.
Carolina Guerrero, Camila Rupcich and Evelyn Aravena - students of Industrial Engineering, Computer engineering and electrical engineering respectively - are the creators of E-Kaia.
This is a portable device that allows you to charge your mobile in a very simple way. You need only bury him near a plant and ready!.
Responsible explained that E-Kaia has been created for solve a problem daily contingency: avoid that our mobile devices are left without a battery and, Like this, We maintain communication with the world.
The idea comes in 2009 as a result of a situation which, Surely, sounds familiar to us. Want to submit a paper of the University, completed and on the edge of delivery, has the mobile battery. After the crisis, the girls had an idea: take advantage of the power something that is always within reach, as a plant.
At first it seemed a joke, but amid laughter were aware that the idea was not as crazy as it seemed. From that moment began with research, the stroke of sketches, with different models and up to what today is known as E-Kaia.
Our technology is based on harnessing the power of the plants. For this we create a biocircuito that has the ability to transform this energy, It allows you to load basic low-power portable devices, and also to protect and take care of the plant.
The system leverages the power of plants, the Earth and the Sun, for produce energy benefiting from photosynthesis and taking the plant residual energy to convert it into electric energy.
The type of plant that best results have been given is that of "the plant of the currency" because according to young women, is resistant and need little irrigation, Although they have also tested with fig trees and Tulips, with positive results.
Evelyn Aravena explains that used prototype is "a power plant which is about a common pot with normal soil, but inside there is a circuit with some exits to the surface. The qualities of the circuit are the great secret of everything".
This technology allows using natural resources, maintaining a quality energy and preserving the environment at the same time.
According to the magazine Environmental theorem, the latest design of E-Kaia performs the full load of a smartphone in only time and a half.
This offers an alternative to energy, to maintain communication and charge other small USB devices without having to rely on the grid - which gives a advantage before blackouts and natural disasters.
Along the 6 years of development, E-Kaia has managed to financing of CORFO (Corporación de Fomento de la Produccion) and in 2014 obtained the Avonni award in the energy category with the collaboration of utilities. However, the road was not easy - most feel discrimination for being women white.
Nobody believed in us. In addition to mad, at the beginning many doors closed us, but We never realized by arm wrestling because we believed in our project and in ourselves, say the creators.
E-Kaia is not even in the market, Since is still in research and development phase. Looking for delivery of a portable device, ergonomic, light, easy to use and transport, to fulfill the function of charging devices and illuminate the rooms.
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