EmpowerPlaygrounds

Merry-Go-Round

Using state-of-the-art electronic controllers, wind power generators, and speed-increasing gearboxes, the merry-go-round is designed to convert a portion of the kinetic energy from children at play to usable electrical power.

The electric power produced when children turn the merry-go-round charges large batteries capable of storing about two days of play. Highly efficient LED lanterns with a 50 hour run life are recharged once a week. Smart recharging circuits ensure a lantern battery life of many years. The children learn energy management while using the lanterns each day at school and at home.

Zip-Line

The zip-line functions much like a tow-line ski lift, but in reverse. It consists of two pulleys, a loop of rope, and a nine-foot platform. Kids standing on the platform grab the rope which turns pulleys as the children ride down. A generator attached to one of the pulleys harnesses energy from the children. A suspended pulley at one end provides a certain amount of theft prevention by enabling the equipment to be set up and taken down as necessary.

Swing Set

Empower Playgrounds installed the first electricity-generating glider swing with an attached generator at the rural island school of Pediatorkorpe in November 2009.