15-Year-Old Builds a $12 Generator From Recycled Materials...
The homemade device cost less than a takeout meal. It powered LED lights, promised fresh water for coastal villages, and won America's top y
Hannah Herbst, a high-schooler, made the Beacon energy prove to harvest electrical power from oceanic currents!
Beacon is made with a 3D printed propeller, a pulley that drives a hydro- electric generator - inside a PVC pipe!
Her $12 prototype was tested in the Intracoastal Waterway & is calculated to be able to charge 3 car batteries - under an hour!
Hannah's invention is designed to run LED lights, operate centrifuges, pump desalinated water, run coastal homes, oceanic navigation beacons & other places that the Grid doesn't reach...
A scaled up version has already been tested.
Hannah was inspired, in all this, by her Ethiopian pen pal - who lives without electricity - something she hated to imagine...
That's why she's sharing her materials list & design - to anyone who needs it!
Further, Hannah shared a $25,000 prize with her pen pal & her school.
What remained payed for her college education...
Truly, a gal with a great mind & heart.