The Solar Pocket Factory: An Invention Adventure

Their project, "The Solar Pocket Factory: An Invention Adventure", is the first crowd-funded technological advance on Kickstarter. While other Kickstarter projects typically produce works such as books or programs, theirs promises to give backers the opportunity to be part of the solar power democratic revolution. Anyone with at least dollar to contribute can be a backer of their mission to produce high-quality microsolar panels that last much longer and cost much less than the microsolar panels available today.
Shawn's lab is in Hong Kong, while Alex's lab is here in Metro Manila. They want their microsolar technology to work here because if they can make it robust and affordable enough to be feasible in the Philippines, then it can work anywhere. He explained that the local environment is not only physically tough, but also resource-constrained, as well as "cynical towards solar panels after a string of bad experiences with cheap, low-quality panels." These conditions encourage him to work with greater discipline, focus, and resourcefulness. "No one wants us here," he said. "We don't get to think, 'Oh we're doing to save the world.' It's not just that it allows us to focus on lab work– there's nothing else to focus on. Nobody's lining up to give us money, nobody knows or cares what we're up to. Might as well go to the lab and build a factory." Free from these distractions, he is left to do what he loves best: tinkering and innovating.
Alex considers our country to be conducive not just for innovation, but also for the adoption of this type of innovation. The Philippines has demonstrated previous success in being a trendsetting epicenter for new, low-cost, micro technologies and business concepts such as SMS and sachet products. Microsolar, like the sachet concept, is about taking a product– solar technology– and distributing it in the form of its smallest useable unit– a microsolar panel. The sachet concept, however, increases both waste and long-term cost. Microsolar, while operating on a similar idea, works to reduce waste and long-term cost through the use of clean renewable energy, and high-quality, non-toxic, durable materials. He also mentioned mobile banking, pioneered in Kenya, as another example of a technology that "emerged from a heavily constrained, developing country and made the jump to the rest of the world". Microsolar, he hopes, will be just as widespread.While microsolar presents a powerful way to reduce waste, Alex admitted that recycling would be difficult due to the durability of the panels– they have to be encased in sturdy glass to make them last a decade or longer. The materials, however, are non-toxic– no heavy metals– and the product's long-term durability adds to its sustainability.