Festival wellies – the new renewable energy source

Charge your mobile phone with your wellies, using heat from your feet. These prototype thermoelectric wellies have been unveiled by Orange, as a way for festival goers and farmers to keep in touch with friends and family.

The Orange Power Wellies were created in conjunction with renewable energy experts at GotWind. They work by using a ‘power generating sole’ inside the welly that transforms the heat from your feet into electrical current.

Twelve hours of walking in wellies will generate enough charge to keep your mobile phone going for an hour. The hotter your feet get the more energy is produced, so if your dancing at a festival or working hard on the farm you’ll get your phone charged quicker.

The technology inside a thermoelectric welly

These wonderful wellies work their magic by utilising ceramic wafers inside the sole of the welly. Sandwiched between these ceramic wafers is a mixture of thermoelectric modules, semiconductors and thermocouples that form a thermopile. When heat is transferred from the foot to the top of the thermopile, and cold is applied to the opposite side, electricity is generated by a process called the ‘Seebeck effect’.

The power generated is stored in a battery reservoir, hidden in the heel of the wellington boot. When your phone needs charge, just plug your mobile into the power output at the top of the welly. Then keep walking, dancing or working to generate some juice for the next charge.

These power wellies were originally designed as festival wellies to compliment the green ethos of the Glastonbury festival, but we think it would appeal to all hard working welly wearers.