sOccket

More about sOccket

For cooking, heating, and light, rural households in low-income countries burn kerosene, an unsustainable and inefficient source of energy. One in four people around the world obtain light exclusively from pollutant fuels. When used for just 4 hours a day, one kerosene lantern emits over 100 kg of environmentally-hazardous greenhouse gases per year. In Uganda, where only 1% of rural households are electrified, burning kerosene is the only available option. Our alternative, green solution is the sOccket - a portable source of energy that capitalizes on the popularity of soccer to address this lack of electricity and the resulting environmental hazards.

sOccket is a soccer ball with the capacity to harness the energy of interaction with the ball during game-play, incorporating the impact/motion technology used in shake-to-charge flashlights. Our preliminary testing shows that 45 minutes of kicking the ball the can light an electric camping lamp for over three hours! Our team will use existing infrastructure to provide communities, churches, and organizations with the sOccket ball, a tool to promote environmental awareness, team building, and much-needed electricity. sOccket will also serve as an advocacy tool, bringing the developing world’s little-publicized “power problem” to the attention of the developed world.