Inside Segway Inventor Dean Kamen’s Island Home
By Steven Castle
Energy-saving LED lighting - plus solar, wind and geothermal systems -have turned Segway inventor Dean Kamen’s second home into a net-zero island.

He calls himself Lord Dumpling, and his island “nation” has a zero-tolerance policy for incandescent lights. In fact, he claims to have the first fully self-powered nation. He is Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway electric scooter and other devices, some of which are responsible for making his island home self-sustaining—along with a lot of LEDs (light emitting diodes).

Kamen’s vacation home is a lighthouse on North Dumpling Island, off the Connecticut coast but technically a part of New York state (click here to view a slideshow). In the 1990s Kamen jokingly seceded in a zoning dispute over the installation of a wind turbine. He was later allowed to install the 10-kilowatt turbine, and signed a “non-aggression pact” with former President George H.W. Bush.



All was well between the “countries” until a couple of years ago, when the U.S. Coast Guard decided to cut the undersea cable that powered the lighthouse. Kamen’s island would have to be self-sustainable, with solar panels powering the lighthouse.

North Dumpling Island
A couple of years ago, the U.S. Coast Guard decided to cut the undersea cable that powered the lighthouse. Kamen’s island would have to be self-sustainable, with solar panels powering the lighthouse.

Rack 'Em
Kamen’s island home is as green as the felt on the billiards table. It includes 24 batteries to store excess electricity, and a 15-kw propane-fired generator can also be used.

Click here to continue.