Pelé recently doubled down on his support of Shell and Pavegen’s kinetic energy powered soccer fields during the Make the Future London festival.
The Brazilian football star helped kids demonstrate Pavegen’s floor tiles that generate electricity through footsteps. He hosted a virtual penalty shootout, the Pelé Energy Challenge, between kids in Lagos and London. The shootout featured two teams linked via satellite. The more energy players were able generate on Pavegen tiles the more time they had to compete.
Pavegen’s founder, Laurence Kemball-Cook explained how his player-powered tiles work in more detail to Forbes.com. They are able to monitor every footfall, and their management software is able to help predict the best times and locations on the field that allow for the most energy generation. The technology has machine-learning capabilities in order to better understand patterns of movement.
#SLWAlumni @Pavegen have the backing of legendary footballer Pelé! Find out more in this article from @ForbesTech: https://t.co/VLeGeOmMfG
— Shell LiveWIRE UK (@shelllivewireuk) July 6, 2016
We covered Pavegen here in January when they debuted their second state-of-the-art soccer field in Nigeria. Pavegen’s tiles are able to generate electricity to power lights on the soccer field simply by having people play the game. The tiles are located under the turf. When people walk, run or jump on the tiles they are able to generate energy.
Pelé helped Pavegen and Shell introduce the worlds first player-powered soccer pitch in 2014 in Morro da Mineira, which is located in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. The tiles themselves are still very expensive, costing about $500 a piece. The fields need at least 200 tiles. The two companies understand this, therefore the fields also use solar panels to help power the floodlights overhead.
The former World Cup winner is very excited about the possibilities that Pavegen’s technology can provide, stating “I’ve seen how this amazing technology has reinvigorated the community, allowing Brazilian children to follow their passion in sport and learn about future energy solutions in the process…”
Pelé’s presence in London helped draw more attention to Shell’s Make the Future London festival. The main attraction of the event is the Eco-marathon Europe, which is an energy-efficient driving challenge. 3,000 students from 34 countries raced their own cars in the 31st running of the event.
Pavegen is hoping to bring their technology to many more soccer fields around the world. They also plan on utilizing their tiles in everyday life. Similar kinetic energy tiles are currently in use around Europe, including in one Heathrow terminal.
A ton of repetitive steps and downward force is required to convert the kinetic energy into sustainable electrical energy. The average step creates only seven watts of power, which is just enough to power a small LED lightbulb for 30 seconds. Pavegen has been working to improve their technology for seven years, and they know they still have a long way to go.
Take penalties with @Pele whilst generating green energy at #makethefuture London! As fun as it sounds strange. pic.twitter.com/VqhE99QIEi
— Make the Future (@makethefuture) June 27, 2016
But Pavegen, with the help of Shell and soccer superstars like Pelé, has the potential to bring this exciting technology all around the world. They are off to a great start thus far. Player-powered sustainable soccer fields bring a lot of people joy.
The worlds most popular sport has a few allies that are sure to help power the game for years to come.