Researchers from Oscilla Power – a US-based renewable energy company, have developed a mechanism, called Triton, that rests on the ocean surface and gathers power from the constant source of waves.
The machine contains a series of generators and no moving parts, intentionally, so that it won’t be destroyed from all the jostling it’s expected to receive.
“As waves interact with the device, there is an alternating magnetic polarity created in the metal that is used to generate electricity,” reports Meagan Parrish for ChemInfo. “By the use of flexible tethers, themselves enabled by an asymmetric heave plate, Triton uniquely captures energy from heave, pitch, sway and roll motions”.
So what we have is a giant, floating, metal plate that is connected to tethers that generate electricity when they’re moved around by waves.
Each Triton is expected to produce about 600kW of power, enough to supply energy for 500 average homes every month. When fully implemented, the program can power 1/3 of the United States’ power consumption and 15% of global need. Ocean waves are a constant source of power, so it is refreshing when a company taps into it (Via Minds).
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