If you’re planning to attend any festivals or outdoor concerts this year, you’ll be only too aware that waterproof footwear – most commonly the ubiquitous wellington boot – is a must. Thanks to mobile provider Orange, you’ve now got another reason to go well-equipped: wellies that can charge your cellphone.
According to the company’s press release – highlighted over on Engadget – the Orange Power Wellies, which have been created by the company in partnership with the rather unfortunately named renewable energy specialist GotWind, are designed to provide both protection from the elements and ‘free’ energy to keep your cellphone or other portable device topped up while you party all night.
The company claims that if the footwear is worn for twelve continuous hours it will generate enough energy to give your cellphone around an hour of talktime – not a great trade-off, it has to be said, but you’ll need to wear shoes anyway and it’s more than enough to get an emergency call out if you need picking up from the middle of a suddenly-abandoned field at the end of an event.
The wellies harness the Seebeck effect, which is a curious principle which uses the temperature differential between two semiconductors to produce small but continuous amounts of electrical energy. The general principle is that given a warm surface – in this case, the soles of your feet – and a cold surface – the muddy, wet ground at your average festival or concert site – you can generate enough juice to provide a trickle current for charging a battery.
This does cause one slight issue, however: as the Seebeck effect relies on temperature differentials, the greater the difference between the hot side and the cold side the more energy is generated – and if the ground at your chosen venue is around the same temperature as your feet, you’re not likely to get much power for charging your portable devices no matter how long you wear the wellies for.
Due to be showcased at the UK’s Glastonbury festival, the Orange Power Wellies remain a prototype for now, but it’s a sound principle and one which it is easy to imagine could find its way into production for the eco-friendly consumer in places where a lack of cheery sunshine makes solar panels a no-go for on-the-go charging. Sadly, Orange hasn’t offered any clues as to when – or even if – it could offer the footwear as a genuine product for those who need to keep their devices topped-up in the middle of a field.
