A home off the grid

Two inventors have designed a wind- and solar-powered home that can fully sustain itself

Innovators Sona Pohlova and Tomas Zacek, aged 31 and 36, respectively, started Ecocapsule with just four employees. And what they have achieved is quite startling. The architects and co-founders the startup in Bratislava, Slovakia, have created a portable home that uses wind and solar energy to sustain itself.

Form and function

Made of insulated steel and aluminum with a fiberglass shell, the Ecocapsule is a 1.1-ton, 70-square-foot mobile home powered by wind and solar energy for off-the-grid living.

Origin

In 2009 the co-founders entered a competition to design a small home. They didn't win but drew enough interest from potential buyers that they kept working on it.

Cost

The capsule, available later this year from the company's website, costs about $90,000, plus shipping.

Layout

Enter through a hatch in the 15-by-7-by-8-foot pod to find a small stove, toilet, and shower on one side and a foldout bed and table on the other. The capsule's wooden interior can be customised for various uses.

Power

The capsule can generate as much as 1.35 kilowatts via a wind turbine and solar panels on the roof. It stores up to 10kw in a rechargeable battery with a seven-year life span.

Market

Ecocapsule is processing its first 50 preorder deposits and has received 17,000 e-mails expressing interest, including from US. Army contractors, Zacek says.

Next step

Ecocapsule is seeking $1 million in capital so it can begin larger-scale production. Peter Wheelwright and Alison Mears, architecture professors at New York's New School, say they worry its materials may be environmentally unfriendly and possibly unsafe. Aluminum production is energy-intensive, and some fiberglass products can contain formaldehyde, a toxic chemical. Zacek says the materials are safe. He and Pohlova are researching alternative materials, such as hemp, to make the capsule greener.

© Bloomberg