A solar powered stove and battery to rival Elon Musk? Mark Cuban is interested

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“Do you think you can put the fear of God in Elon Musk and put them out of business?” asked Mark Cuban on Shark Tank, a reality show about investors and entrepreneurs. His question was directed at Dr. Caitlin Powers, the CEO and founder of One Earth Designs. Elon Musk, the Tesla mastermind, had acquired SolarCity, a solar power business, in 2016. Powers, in contrast, had invented a solar powered stove that harnessed the energy of the sun to produce a powerful, fuel-free grill and her company was also in the process of developing a solar battery. Powers appeared on Shark Tank in hopes of securing an investor for One Earth Designs.

“Yes, I think we have the potential to do that,” she confidently responded. Powers received her doctorate from Harvard University and her solar energy research has been recognized by the US National Science Foundation, US Environmental Protection Agency, and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. From her travels in the Himalayas, Powers had witnessed firsthand the negative effects of fuel-based indoor cooking among nomads and farmers living in resource-strapped regions. Her solution: the SolSource stove. With its unique geometrical design, it can convert 92% of the sun’s energy directly into cooking power at up to 392 degrees Fahrenheit. It also heats up five times faster than a charcoal grill. “As long as you can see your shadow, you can cook with SolSource,” according to Powers.

Compact, clean, and safe to use, the SolSource stove is a sustainable alternative to fuel-based grills.  The original Solsource is priced at about $499 while the newer SolSource Sport is currently sold at $299. The Sport is a quarter of the weight of the original source, making it more lightweight for a variety of settings, from the beach, to the park, to the wilderness. From Powers’ pitch, especially her future plans to develop the solar powered battery, Cuban agreed to invest in One Earth Designs. Cuban would be pleased to know that Kimbal Musk, Elon Musk’s brother, is also fan of the SolSource grill and has tweeted pictures of himself using the product.

Developing solar powered products that could rival the likes of Elon Musk? You could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and can receive up to 14% on your expenses. To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE credits as well as CPE credits for CPA’s.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

 

New Study Says Solar Energy Is the Answer to Climate Change, but Requires Improvements in the R&D World

Solar energy may be the one and only answer to climate change.

According to a new study from MIT, “The Future of Solar Energy,” solar has the ability to reverse the effects of climate change by mid-century, but it comes with major obstacles.

“It is going to have to be solar,” explained MIT Economics and Management Professor Emeritus and study chair Richard Schmalensee. “That leads to the question of whether today’s technology, with incremental improvements, can do it. We have serious doubts.”

There will have to be powerful advances in solar technology before solar energy can become the leading universal electricity provider.

“It will take increasing solar by a factor of 65. Not doubling, but a factor of 65,” Schmalensee said, describing how solar could prevent the world from enduring the worst consequences of climate change. “And it has to be done globally, in China and India and sub-Saharan Africa. That means it has to be cheap.”

The researchers at MIT are saying that this change will be difficult, but not impossible. There are policy changes that need to happen immediately in order to get where we need to be.

Schmalensee emphasized that we need to “get R&D right,” because “it is not automatic that there will be new technologies.” There will be many hurdles that will require major R&D spending.

He also stressed the importance of fixing the subsidies “so we are getting more solar per dollar.”

The study states that, “policies that reward production are generally superior in terms of return per dollar spent to policies that subsidize investment in solar generation.”

The study’s suggestion on the issue: “Subsidies for solar and other renewable technologies should reward generation, not investment, and should reward generation more when it is more valuable…Tax credits should be replaced by direct grants, which are more transparent and more effective. If this is not possible, steps should be taken to avoid dependence on the tax equity market.”

Click here for the full study.

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