Plastic Electrical Grid Will Generate Power at Bottom of PA River

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kiski river

Vandergrift, PA is ditching its longtime reputation as a steel town to become a model of sustainability. First up in the transition: installing a grid of electricity-generating smart materials on the bottom of the Kiskiminetas River. The town hopes that the grid—along with a healthy dose of energy conservation efforts—will generate between 20 and 40 percent of the town’s electricity.

The underwater grid will consist of flexible strips of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), a material that generates electricity upon movement. In this case, currents in the river will provide the grid with the necessary undulations.

The resulting electrical currents will pass to substations along the edge of the river, where they will charge a group of batteries.

Details of when the grid will be installed are currently unknown, but scientists involved in the project claim that it will leave the appearance and health of the river unharmed. But I still have to wonder—what happens to a fish that gets caught in an electrical grid?

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11 thoughts on “Plastic Electrical Grid Will Generate Power at Bottom of PA River

  • Pingback: nerdd.net | news and opinion

  • Probably nothing, the current generated by each part of the system is very small. The sum of the current is directed together and out of the system far away from any fish or humans unless the designers have no idea what they are doing. Plus it seems like they could put some sort of fencing around the equipment in order to keep wildlife from entering.

  • Probably nothing, the current generated by each part of the system is very small. The sum of the current is directed together and out of the system far away from any fish or humans unless the designers have no idea what they are doing. Plus it seems like they could put some sort of fencing around the equipment in order to keep wildlife from entering.

  • This action shows exactly what the people of pennsylvania are made of and why im proud to call myself one of them!!!!! lets all keep this kind of thing moving forward the future is looking bright for the first time in a long time

  • This action shows exactly what the people of pennsylvania are made of and why im proud to call myself one of them!!!!! lets all keep this kind of thing moving forward the future is looking bright for the first time in a long time

  • wow this is a very nice article thanks!

  • wow this is a very nice article thanks!

  • The electric current is well insulated, and fish won’t be harmed.

    This is a very promising technology that doesn’t require putting up a dam that requires miles of useable land. There’s plenty of energy in water, and we should use it.

  • The electric current is well insulated, and fish won’t be harmed.

    This is a very promising technology that doesn’t require putting up a dam that requires miles of useable land. There’s plenty of energy in water, and we should use it.

  • That poor river has been through enough!I say leave it alone and let it do what it is suppose to naturally,clean itself up!

  • That poor river has been through enough!I say leave it alone and let it do what it is suppose to naturally,clean itself up!

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