Energy Intelligence is developing a road-mounted system that harnesses the kinetic energy from braking vehicles to generate electricity.

The system is to be used by high-traffic sites to power nearby equipment such as lights, cameras, displays, booths, gates, and other electronics, offsetting electricity that would otherwise be purchased from the grid. 

“We’d love to see all forms of renewables, including wind turbines and solar panels, improve and become more competitive over time,” said Daniel Shani, Founder and CEO of Energy Intelligence, Inc. “However, in the meantime, we’re focused on leveraging energy wasted by vehicles as a predictable, consistent, and powerful source of clean energy. Our patented technology offers competitive economics and is easy to deploy.” 

The system lies flat on top of the road, requiring no excavation. At 10ft wide by 4ft long by 1in tall the system blankets the road surface, resulting in a minimal impact on driving experience. When vehicles drive over they pinch embedded hydraulic channels and push pressurized fluid toward a generator, producing anywhere from 250 to 2,000 watts of electricity, depending on the site and its volume of traffic. The system is designed so units can be connected in series to form larger installations and scale output. For example, five modules connected in series can produce between 1,250 and 7,500 watts of continuous power and between 4,000 and 50,000 kWhs in annual production.

Payback will range from as few as six months up to three years. Another way to look at it, is the levelized cost, which factors in all the energy produced over the life of the system and all up front and ongoing expenses. This yields $0.07 per kWh, which is very competitive with other forms of generation. This innovative clean energy solution reduces onsite electricity expenses up to 50%.

Although in the development phase, Energy Intelligence is making great progress in bringing this technology to market. Energy Intelligence is currently fine-tuning its third prototype and is on an aggressive schedule to deploy them across a number of field tests at major sites in Boston, MA and Buffalo, NY this year.

About Energy Intelligence: Energy Intelligence, Inc. is a privately held company with offices in Boston, MA and Buffalo, NY. Energy Intelligence was founded in 2010. Since then, the company has been issued three patents and won numerous awards and competitions, including the 43North Business Competition, receiving $500,000 and a $100,000 investment from Steve Case, Founder of AOL. For more information visit energyintel.us.