Soon you’ll charge your phone by just walking

A new tech company called SolePower wants to harness the energy in every step you take and convert it into electricity.

The company, which won a Popular Science Invention Award last year, has created power-generating insoles, activated by the force of each footfall, which can be used to charge a range of mobile devices.

According to company founder Matt Stanton, the goal is to help people create renewable power, and eventually to provide specialised energy-generating shoes to people in developing nations where access to electricity is unreliable.

In a promotional video released this week, Stanton explains the neat science behind the high-tech insoles. Each step activates a microgenerator, which then feeds energy into a battery pack clipped to the side of your shoe. You can draw a direct line between the number of steps taken and the amount of energy generated: If you take 2000 steps (the approximate number of steps in a mile), that means you’re effortlessly activating the tiny microgenerator 2,000 times. According to Stanton, an hour of walking will power 30 minutes of phone conversation.

The power-generating insoles aren’t on the market yet, but SolePower has created a waitlist for anyone who wants to reserve a pair.