© Ecocapsule via Inhabitat
By Lloyd Alter | Treehugger
We have seen so many photoshopped dreams that it is wonderful to see one turn into reality.
Remember that scene in Galaxy Quest, when Captain Nesmith finally contacts Brandon and admits that it's not just a set and a TV show, “It's real!” Well, by Grabthar’s Hammer, the same can now be said about the Ecocapsule, a prefab off-grid solar and wind powered tiny home.
When we first covered the Ecocapsule, designed by Bratislava-based Nice Architects, I had doubts that it would ever be anything but vaporware. Looking at their website it is still hard to tell what is real or really good photoshop, but Inhabitat shows photos of real people climbing in and out of it, and a helicopter dropping it on a Bratislava roof. Ecocapsule describes the idea:
Ecocapsule is a self-sustainable smart house powered solely by solar and wind energy. It allows you to live off-the-grid, with the luxury of a hotel room. Ecocapsule is your design way to independent housing. It can serve as a cottage, pop-up hotel or even as a charging station for electric cars. We have engineered the product from scratch to be as self-sufficient, practical and functional as possible. With Ecocapsule, you will achieve a new level of freedom. Now, for the first time ever, we are opening orders and pre-orders. Join us and change the world – starting with yours.
When I first wrote about it I wondered how it could live up to its claims of not requiring any supporting infrastructure and bringing “civilization’s standards into the wilderness”. I concluded:
Everything needs supporting infrastructure; waste tanks have to be emptied, gas bottles for cooking have to be filled. Truly going off grid is hard work, a lot more than just airdropping an egg. But hey, it is lovely to look at.
Now that it is for sale (cheap at €79,900 or US$98,193, just US$1,115.82 for each of its 88.26 square feet) we can really see its specifications too, which are actually pretty impressive.
The body is “made from high-capacity insulated fiberglass shells overlaid on an aluminum framework.” It comes with a 750 watt wind turbine and 880 watts of solar, connected to a 10kWh battery. Water is collected from the roof and put through a reverse osmosis filter; the toilet is a waterless composting and urine separating, likely something like the Separett. They say they are working on an incinerating toilet for the next version; that's a bad idea because they are noisy and need a lot of fuel.
