Power from road traffic movement: Indian villager has developed a prototype of power generator that produces electricity utilizing the vibrations caused by vehicles on busy road junctions.

By Syed Akbar

Hyderabad, Jan 5: An intermediate dropout from a remote village in
Guntur district has developed a prototype of power generator that
produces electricity utilizing the vibrations caused by vehicles on
busy road junctions. It converts the mechanical energy created by the
road traffic into electrical energy, which can be added to the power
grid or stored in battery.

The prototype generator developed by Damalapati Venkata Krishna of
Ganapavaram village in Rajulapalem mandal of Guntur district will be
displayed at the Renewable Energy World Asia (REWA) conference in
Bangkok, Thailand in the first week of October this year.

The 100th session of the Indian Science Congress currently underway in
Kolkata had accepted the paper of Venkata Krishna for a poster
presentation. But when he went to Kolkata to make the presentation, he
was denied permission on the grounds that he is not a graduate,
Venkata Krishna told this correspondent.

“Prof AK Rao, sectional president, physical sciences, Indian Science
Congress Association, 2013, sent the acceptance letter. He also
directed me to two of the organisers of the science congress for
accommodation in Kolkata. But to my surprise they told me that since I
am not a graduate, I am not eligible for the presentation,” Venkata
Krishna pointed out.

Dr Gollapalli Nageswara Rao of Andhra University said generation of
electricity from road traffic movement is feasible. “Venkata Krishna
had made a prototype generator of road traffic energy. Many scientists
the world over are involved in research on similar projects to
generate green electricity from vehicular movement on busy roads. We
have to see if the prototype is commercial feasible for mass
production,” Dr Nageswara Rao observed.

Venkat Krishna’s prototype generator has two components, a pressure
plate and a power- producing device. The pressure plate is put
underneath the road and is connected to the power-producing device.
Whenever a vehicle passes through the plate, the pressure generated
from vibrations and weight is passed on to the device, which converts
this mechanical energy into electrical energy.

“It will be useful in heavy traffic roads in cities and national
highways. To begin with, the power generated can be utilised to supply
electricity to traffic signals or streetlights. It works better, when
the density of traffic is high. Since the power can be stored in
battery, it will supply continuous power to traffic signals even
during non-peak hours,” Venkat Krishna said.

Earlier, he developed a device called Kishan Rakshak, which
automatically throws a covering shield over chilli crop kept for sun
drying, whenever it rains.