The World Is Made Of Energy. Keep it Flowing!

You can help make the World a better place using pedal power to delight, inspire, educate, and PROVE that WE are an important part of a clean, renewable energy future. Your power company won't be paying you to exercise anytime soon, but the 50-150 watts you create can power a phone, tablet, laptop, and even a TV with no more effort than a regular workout.

FOR SCHOOLS

The Green Microcycle Read and Ride Bike is perfect for Movement Breaks and interactive STEM education.  Comes with a grid tie inverter and reader rack. Fits 4 feet tall and up. (exact bikes will vary depending on supply and needs). More info and pricing….

Home of The World Record Setting UpCycle Ecocharger

We teamed up with Chevrolet to help power the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto. Over 10,000 riders in 10 days took part!
Learn More About This Project

FOR INDIVIDUALS AND D.I.Y.ERS

The DIY Kit – attach a bike with 26 inch wheels. 

HOW IT WORKS

Attach almost any bike to our generator and start pedaling!  The harder you work, the more electricity you make. The electricity you create can be grid-tied, charge batteries, or power lights. Videos…

WHAT CAN I POWER?

The average adult can easily make 50-75 watts. 5 watts can power a smartphone, 10 watts can power a tablet, 50 watts powers a laptop, and 100 watts powers a 40 inch LED TV. An athlete can average over 100 watts and peak at over 500 watts.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Inventor of the UpCycle Ecocharger, Adam Boesel has some answers for you!

I don’t know anything about electricity. Please explain this in plain English!
I can relate.  When I started working on this in 2007, I knew very little about electricity.  This challenge has helped me come up with the simplest solution possible.  Here’s the basic idea.  When you pedal, you turn the hub-generator of The UpCycle Eco-Charger.  That turning motion creates DC (direct current) electricity, just like a wind turbine.  To be used by most standard appliances, it needs to be converted to AC (alternating current) electricity.  A device called an inverter accomplishes this task.  Once the DC is converted to AC, it can be sent back to the building by plugging into the wall.  That’s it!
Wouldn’t it be better to store the electricity in a battery?

Yes and no. Obviously, if you can’t connect to the grid, your only option is to store electricity in a battery. We now have a couple ways to capture the electricity with a battery. But it’s important for you to understand, it requires you to maintain a specific cadence while pedaling. You won’t be doing high intensity interval training into a battery. You will find a nice steady pace that will add the correct voltage at the correct amperage to charge, but not overcharge, your battery.

Here’s a video that helps explain how it works:

Can I make money with this by selling electricity back to the power company?
Not likely. If that were the case, every exercise machine in the world would have had this technology years ago. Each human is able to generate between 50 and 150 watts continuously, which is definitely more than enough to power a phone (5 watts), Ipad (10 watts) or a laptop (30 – 50 watts), but not enough to make much of a dent in your home power bill (US average: 30,000 watt hours a day). The UpCycle Eco-Charger really helps you SAVE money in 3 major ways: 1) No need to keep buying indoor training tires as with most other bike trainers. 2) Knowing what it takes to generate 50 to 150 watts will help you see the necessity and opportunities to easily conserve energy in your home. 3) Being in shape is way cheaper than copays (here’s proof).
Why should I believe this is the most powerful, stable, smooth riding, and reliable bicycle generator ever?

Of all the current producers of bicycle generators, I’m the only one who was also a personal trainer and owner of a gym. In a gym, the equipment must be a great workout experience or it won’t get used.  It also has to last a long, long time.  I’ve made sure the parts in our products will not break, fail, or fall apart after a short time.  We’ve tested the UpCycle Eco-Charger at the gym, at outdoor music festivals, and with elite cyclists and it holds up great.  The hub generator is designed to withstand outdoor use, the stand is strong and stable, and the electronics are tested and easily replaceable.

What is On-Grid or Grid Tied?
When you are Grid-Tied with the UpCycle Eco-Charger, your energy helps power your building. This is the best, most efficient way to use the UpCycle Eco-Charger.  Simply plug it into a standard wall outlet (115 or 220 volt).  The Grid is the system of power plants and wires that carry electricity to cities and towns.  Almost all buildings are grid-tied.  The UpCycle Eco-Charger is just one of many power sources that can feed the grid.  Other Grid Tied power sources are coal, hydro, wind, nuclear, and solar.
What is Off-Grid?
This just means that the UpCycle Eco-Charger can be used to power devices where no other power sources exist, such as a full power outage in your home, in a cabin in the woods, on a camping trip, etc.
I don’t want to waste my hard-earned money. What if I don’t like it?
I’ll refund your money and pay to ship it back to me (outside the US, you will have to pay for shipping and customs).  But if you DO like it, I’m confident The UpCycle Eco-Charger will help you save money over time as part of your eco-fitness lifestyle.
Can it be used in my country? Will it work with my country’s electrical grid?
For the grid-tied technology, we know it works with the USA system of 115 volt plugs.  We also know it works in at least one European country (the Netherlands).  We are not sure about whether it would work with any other systems, and because of this, we only ship the DIY kit internationally.