CalWave, an underwater mechanism of springy fiberglass “carpets,” generates electricity from ocean waves more efficiently and less obtrusively than wave-energy systems at the surface now in use in Hawaii and other places.
CalWave plans to switch on an 8-foot-by-30-foot prototype plant off the San Diego coast late this year. Lehmann says it will cost about $80,000 to build and generate 80 kilowatts of power, enough to run 180 homes. For commercial operations, multiple units will link together to form wider carpets. Lehmann and Haji are talking with IDE Technologies, which is building a $1 billion desalination plant in Carlsbad, Calif., about using CalWave as a power source.
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