Soccer as an Energy Source

Aimed at helping impoverished communities with no access to generated power, the Soccket uses a “pendulum-like mechanism” to build up and store kinetic energy created by the rolling motion of the ball.

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Uncharted Play

The world’s most popular sport is also its newest energy source. The “for-profit social enterprise” Uncharted Play has developed a soccer ball that can power an electric lamp.

Aimed at helping impoverished communities with no access to generated power, the Soccket uses a “pendulum-like mechanism” to build up and store kinetic energy created by the rolling motion of the ball. According to Uncharted Play, 30 minutes of kicking the ball can keep an LED light on for three hours.

So far, the “energy harnessing soccer ball” has been distributed in poor areas in Mexico, South Africa and Brazil.

Only an “ounce heavier” than a regular soccer ball, theSoccket is water resistant and requires no inflation.

The co-founders of Uncharted Play, Jessica O. Matthews and Julia Silverman, started Soccket as a class project during their junior year at Harvard.

They are trying to raise $75,000 on Kickstarter in order to mass-produce Soccket and make it available for everyone.

With nine days left before the deadline, Uncharted Play has already collected $72, 093 and hopes to reach its “stretch goal” of $150,000. They promise to provide an energy-tracking device and an emergency cellphone charger with Soccket, if the goal is met.

In addition to providing poverty-stricken families with electricity, Soccket has also been used in schools as a teaching tool to promote innovation and entrepreneurship.

Uncharted Play is working on a second project called Ludo, a soccer ball that converts playtime into points, which can be used online to donate items to social projects worldwide.