Orange Launches Welectricity Generator

A couple of weeks ago we had a little dig at Orange for putting out a release about its activities in support of the Glastonbury festival that made no mention at all of mobile. The network’s PR actually phoned us up to thank us for the coverage and promise that there would be some mobile-related news soon. And today it arrived, in the shape of the ‘Orange Power Wellies’, an eco-friendly mobile phone charging prototype created to keep Glastonbury Festival goers connected with their friends across the weekend.

The Orange Power Wellies, created in collaboration with renewable energy experts GotWind, use a power generating sole that converts heat from your feet into an electrical current. This ‘welectricity’ (nice – Ed.) can then be used to recharge your mobile phone. Orange, Official Communications Partner for the Glastonbury Festival, will be showcasing the Orange Power Wellies prototype onsite.

12 hours of stomping through the Glastonbury Festival in your Orange Power Wellies will give you enough power to charge a mobile phone for one hour. To increase the length of time you can charge your phone for, Orange advisers users to head for the dance tent, because the hotter your feet get, the more energy you produce.

After a full day at the festival, you can plug your phone into the power output at the top of the welly and use the energy that has been generated throughout the day to charge your phone. “Orange remain loyal to the green ethos of the Glastonbury Festival, and are committed to researching exciting new energy sources that can be used on site to ensure people can stay in touch with their nearest and dearest,” says Andrew Pearcey, head of sponsorship at Orange UK. “The Orange Power Wellies use clean and renewable energy to create valuable electricity, ensuring festival goers can text and phone their mates for the duration of the weekend.”

At previous Glatonburys, Orange has showcased the ‘Recharge Pod’, powered by wind and solar energy; the ‘Dance Charger’ that drew upon kinetic energy created by dancing; and the ‘Orange Power Pump’, which used the energy created from a traditional foot pump and converted it into electricity.