Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
House—IatGreenpeace,heatasolarstartupinChinacalledSuntechPower.Isawinthis
behavior the kind of rebel baron (rather than robber baron) that I believe makes solar en-
trepreneursunique.Therewillbemanybigbusinessesandfortunesbuiltincomingyears
on the back of the Solar Ascent. I hope to see in the people who lead these companies
some of the traits that Dr. Shi brings: a keen sense of can-do business and a commitment
to helping the world. Almost like Robin Hood meets the Goliath-defeating David.
Julia Mason: Inspiring Authorities to Adopt Solar
You don't have to be an electrical engineer, have earned an MBA, or even have struck
outonyourowntobeasolarsuperstar.Irecentlydiscoveredthestoryofayoungwoman
namedJuliaMason,astudentatMonteVistaHighSchoolinSanRamonValley,Califor-
nia—the home of Chevron—who inspired her entire school district to install 3.3 mega-
watts of solar in the next couple of years. Like many in California, the school district is
working to save money through solar-energy adoption—$2.5 billion to date—so it can
afford more teachers, computers, and books. Julia was critical in making this happen by
demonstrating several traits of a great solar entrepreneur: commitment, patience, and a
lot of heart. She and her classmates were able to persuade the school board that not only
could they “afford to go solar” but they “could not afford
not
to go solar.”
Eden Full: Using Low-Tech Tools to Track the Sun
Another incredible case in point is the wonderfully named Eden Full, a young woman
you can Google and see present a TED talk on YouTube. As a high-school student work-
ing on a project to enter into a science fair, Eden came up with a low-cost tracking solu-
tion to increase the productivity of solar systems that could be implemented in devel-
oping countries. Her solution increased the output of a given solar system by about 40
percent, which would make it worthwhile for many more people to buy a solar system.
Eden'sideaistocreateatrackingsolutiontoputonsolarpanelsthatcantrackthesun
using local materials that don't cost much. In a truly ingenious model, she used bamboo
and water to accurately track the course of the sun through the sky, day in and day out,
for less than $40. Now she's trying to build a business that can deliver this simple but
elegant solution to people around the globe, and at the tender age of 20 she has received
the backing of some of Silicon Valley's most famous investors.
Peter Theil, one of the founders of PayPal, picked Eden for a fellowship that he funds
to preempt kids like her from going to business school. Instead he supports entrepren-
eurs who create value and invent things, just as humans always have without the bene-
fit of two years of schooling and hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt—an idea that
makes a lot of sense. He has suggested that there's been a failure in our era to invent
