The wonderful inventions of Solar Man
We met a new super hero in Scottsdale: Solar Man. He fights for justice, or more specifically: to democratise solar power and ensure it is protected from taxes designed to benefit other means of energy generation. Or in his own words, he’s fighting for fair and affordable solar power of the people, for the people and by the people.
Solar Man is one of the many inventions of Dr Joe Hui. We visited the offices of his company today at the SkySong campus of the Arizona State University. We were met by a tornado: Dr Hui is full of energy, and it shows. Radiating enthusiasm, he told us about his many different projects: a solar wonderland, solar awnings, a solar van, the Hui turbine, air-conditioning and much more, such as the portable solar panel umbrella he has installed on his Tesla.
At first glance, Joe Hui might seem like a bit of a mad scientist, with a large set of unfocused ideas, but there’s actually a lot of insight behind the energy. It begins with a simple premise: for entrepreneurs, purpose is the main driver. It’s something we’ve heard before this week: successful enterprises are built around solving a problem. For Dr Hui, the worlds biggest problems are water, energy, food, information and transportation. Or, as he terms it: WEFIT. His wide range of ideas all have to do with solving the problem of our energy supply.
The inventions of Solar Man are mainly focused on solar energy, but they almost all combine functionality. One of his products not only generates energy from sun, but at the same time heats water and generates energy for air-conditioning purposes. I can’t find the right words to describe it in a way that does his inventions justice, but the brilliance is that they combine functionalities in such a way that they become easier obtainable for the general public at a better price.
His Solar Wonderland might seem to not fully fit into that. It’s a slightly different project, that has to do with his view on teaching. He feels he cannot reach students by dryly telling them about the physics behind solar energy, or magnetic levitation, or optics. So, he wants to create a place where they can experience it. In that way, he hope to teach, and ignite curiosity.
And that ties in nicely with one of the themes our visit: entrepreneurship education. According to Dr Hui, curiosity is key for entrepreneurs. And creativity. And the fact that purpose is primary, and money is secondary. As Solar Man told us: that is what students should be taught when they learn about entrepreneurship.
Arjan Tupan is board member of StartupDorf. During an entrepreneurship study trip to the US, he blogs about what he has learned, and how the American examples can inspire Düsseldorf to strengthen the local startup ecosystem. The study trip is sponsored by the Embassy of the United States in Berlin and was designed and will be administered by Cultural Vistas staff, who will travel with the group for the duration of the program. Arjan was nominated for this trip by the U.S. Consulate General in Düsseldorf.
