The possibilities are huge, yet we get our power still through mostly big power plants, often run by coal, nuclear power, or other.
Why not do it differently?
Scott and Julie Brusaw, co-founders of Solar Roadways had another idea: "paving" the roads (which are in there country in rather bad shape) with solar panels.
It was in 2007 when Scott Brusaw found his way into the summer edition of Penn State's "Material Research Institute Bulletin". Back then it sounded even more like a "crazy idea" than today. Nobody back than had a clue about new materials such as graphene, or other that play a major role in improving the efficiency of solar panels (not only for the roof). A Dresden-based spin-off of the Technical University Dresden, Heliatek, is taking the concept of solar panels from the roof into the window, currently ramping up from prototyping to full-production in 2015. Scott also presented at TED
7 years later, Julie and Scott Brusaw, started an even bolder experiment: crowdfunding for ramping up to bring their first full-scale prototype out from the lab into production.
The goal: 1$ Million USD within 6 weeks (from April 21, 2014 - May 31, 2014)
Mission completed (and extended till June 30, 2014 as Scott has recently shared on the Indiegogo page of the campaign).
What looks like an easy path to success wasn't clear five weeks ago, when funds only reached some 25k (May 5, 2014) and nothing much seemed to happen. But then an article appeared in Wired Maganzine (May 8, 2014), and things got into motion (FIRST LEARNING: a major respected and international magazine (online preferably) should capture and write about the project, drawing like-minded people into the crowdfunding process, either by contributing, or spreading the word). Just after a few days funds sprang up quite dramatically (SECOND LEARNING: once the campaign gets
Over the days various supporters, especially ones who had the capability, and boldness not just to write once but several times about the up-dates, news about the campaign itself, or upcoming articles in magazines, and newspapers and to connect these across various social networks the "famous" Twitter hashtag came to use: #SolarRoadways (THIRD LEARNING: never stop telling about the advancements, and share in various networks, staying authentic and passionate what you share).
And then happened something which accelerated the process by no imaginable means: a video by some supporters from Canada "hit the road" or better Youtube.
(FOURTH LEARNING: two is news, three is a crowd, and dedicated, and passionate supporters around the globe is really what's fueling a visionary cause to bring into reality).
Per today, May 30, 2014 more than 1.6$ Mio have come together, and certainly closer ties to possible
The learning lesson in one sentence for all entrepreneurs of different age, from teenager to senior is:
It's (a) never to late to go for a bold vision, (b) success may take time (in this case more than seven years), (c) don't stop bringing your dream into reality until you have finished.
No comments:
Post a Comment