Energy tiles.

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Energy tiles.

Harvest footsteps into wireless electricity.

2020. Conceptual entry for Taipei Industrial Design Award 2020.

These tiles are joined by modules that transform kinetic energy into electricity. The modules transfer the energy to lamps on the street wirelessly using witricity technology. The tiles have a decorative design that may consider traditional tiles patterns, and are made of recycled pet and solar-powered luminescent stones that glow at night, which encourage people to walk over them. This energy system may also be dismantled and installed in different settings or events to provide energy to different chargeable devices, from cellphones to even streetlights or lanterns at festivals.

Currently, Taiwan imports 96% of its energy, which makes it vulnerable to external disruptions. On the other hand, Taiwan received 11.1 million tourists only in 2018. Considering this, the project presents people displacement in tourist regions or events as an energy source. At the same time, the project has the potential to embrace Taiwanese ancient tile crafting traditions by adapting different designs, and thus encouraging tourism.

According to the UN, access to energy and electricity is a driving factor to improve health systems and access to education. The project aims to improve such living conditions by providing people with a free energy source at hand. The concept takes into account existing technological advances, like witricity and wicharge devices, Pavengen’s energy-producing floor tiles, and Studio Roosegaarde’s Van Gogh Path. In this sense, the feasibility of the project lies on the engineering work required to combine such technologies.