Parking Lot Pressure Plates Generate Power for a Market

A green supermarket in the UK has a new way to generate power -- the weight of vehicles entering and leaving its parking lot.

Lisa Zyga of Physorg.com reports:

"The system is expected to produce about 30 kW of energy per hour, which is more than enough energy to power the store's checkouts. As designer Peter Hughes of Highway Energy Systems explains, as a vehicle passes over the plates, the plates are pushed down by the weight of the vehicle. The pushed plates create rocking motions under the road's surface that turn generators, which is redirected back to the store." See full article.