The Founding of EPI
Watch our founder talk about the History of Empower Playgrounds, Inc.
The Idea
After retiring as Vice-President of Engineering at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering, Ben Markham and his wife moved to Ghana, Africa for eighteen months to volunteer. In rural villages, Ben observed the darkness of homes and school classrooms. He also saw the scarcity of play equipment in schoolyards. Touched by their happy smiles, Ben thought,
“What if a portion of the playful energy from these children could be harnessed? What if that energy could become light for their classrooms and homes?”
Developing the Solution
With help from faculty and students at Brigham Young University, engineering expertise was applied to create an innovative and viable solution: playground equipment that generates electricity from children’s play! The concept was field tested and improved in Ghana. Kweku Anno, of Anno Engineering in Accra, converted the design to utilize local materials. After a rigorous process of school selection involving Empower Playgrounds’ social scientists and the Ghanaian Ministry of Education, Anno Engineering manufactured the systems and installed them in the selected schools. These schools not only benefit from Empower Playgrounds’ electricity-generating play equipment, but also from a custom science education module, which helps to enhance the direct learning of rural students by using the play equipment as a living lab.
Thus was born Empower Playgrounds.
Energizer LED Lanterns
Initially, Empower Playgrounds hand modified LED camping lanterns so that they could be recharged by their system. In 2009, Energizer Battery became a sponsor, donating development of a smart LED lantern specifically designed for the Empower Playgrounds service. The smart lantern has a computer chip inside that manages both the charging of the custom battery pack and the operation of the special LED lights. Lighting equivalent to a 25 watt light bulb for over 40 hours is provided by each recharge. Lantern life is expected to be at least 5 years.
Manufacturing Equipment
In late 2010, Empower Playgrounds partnered with playground manufacturer Playworld Systems to begin manufacturing a crate full of electricity generating playground equipment for shipment around the world.
In 2013, Energizer informed Empower Playgrounds they would no longer be manufacturing lanterns. Empower Playgrounds spent the next 3 years looking for a suitable replacement lantern and landed on the exceptional Tough Light LED Rechargeable Lantern that has excellent longevity and is incredibly durable.
Expanding Impact
Since 2008, Empower Playgrounds has expanded its projects to include computer labs, libraries, menstrual hygiene kits, boreholes, classroom blocks, student scholarships, science kits, Village Solar Projects, and BioFil toilets.