CIRCUITS RUN OFF TREE POWER

By K.C.Bishoppe

Trees contain enough power to run a custom circuit. This fact was recently proven by researchers at the University of Washington.

Although the power in trees isn't expected to replace solar power, it's anticipated it could power tree sensors dedicated to detecting environmental conditions or forest fires.

The researchers found that big-leaf maples generate a steady voltage up to a few hundred millivolts. By developing a boost converter capable of storing low incoming voltage and generating stronger voltage of 1.1 V.

Although the researchers haven't established where the voltage in trees comes from, there appears to be some signaling in trees similar to that in the human body, but at a slower speed.