We are so happy to start a series of podcast. We are on journey to share more and more about our vision and our energy, everything that is behind the scene of Solar Fire. From solving energy poverty to personal empowerment, from gender equality in the team to specific feminin challenges in the renewable energy field, from a backyard in Canada to several countries in Africa.
The first three episodes are :
1. Solving energy poverty
Our Chief Operations Officer, Lorin Symington, shares how his family came up with the idea of this solar concentrator, how he gets to know the cultures in the different countries he visits and what motivates him. It was recorded between Burkina-Faso and Finland at the end of 2020.
2. Solar Fire Women : A conversation
Finally, Solar Fire reached gender equality ! For many years, Solar Fire was a team of six persons with only one woman. Nothing in her previous life prepared her to be one of the co-founders of a tech project meant to solve energy poverty. In this second episode, the 7 women working now for Solar Fire or who are promoting the Lytefire tech are sharing their experience, challenges and hopes from Finland, Switzerland, Kenya and France.
3. Can we accelerate the transformation of society by accelerating our own change ?
Our CEO, Urs Riggenbach, shares about the change dynamics and whether we are ready or not for climate change, developing an interesting and deep perspective based on his decade of work serving Solar Fire with the purpose of developing an energy tool that is truly empowering people. As he says, “the growth of an organization literally is the growth of the individuals within the organization.”
Listen here. We hope you’ll like it !
I’ve just completed another Sol4 model based on the most recent early-adopter construction plans here at Surface Design Space in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It so happened that it was the birthday of local musician Mary Simon - what better occasion to inaugurate our solar concentrator? First-timer Marjonneke Grech immediately took to the Sol4 stove and made delicious, yummy pancakes for all of us.
It was a beautiful day for a pancake. No trees were harmed in the making of this delicious breakfast.
Surface Design Space is a grassroots social enterprise, an ecological research and development facility and an institute of creative learning. Founded by Harry White, longtime Burlington, Ontario resident, Surface is a community of builders, artists, activists, craftsmen, entrepreneurs, farmers, mad scientists and others come together to create projects and engage in activities that foster sustainability, creativity, knowledge transfer, profitability and fun. Their mission is to create economic values, social values and protect the environment while having a great time.
A great time was had indeed, as you can see in the video: Using the Sol4 solar concentrator for the first time to make pancakes, with Sarah Beatty, strumming the guitar.
Together with the members of the Surface community I built this Sol4 based on the latest construction guide that is already available to our early-adopters. With a growing number of early adopters around the world we are setting the stage for builders, users and solar entrepreneurs to co-develop solar concentrators, co-promote each other, and to share their experience while making the tech increasingly more visible and accessible. The people here at Surface are really excited to be part of this and want to contribute all sorts of interesting and exciting customizations, which I will be honoured to document and present to you all.
Surface founder Harry White on bass, Bob Kirckpatrick on Drums, Stephen Shelton on lead guitar.
One happy customer.
All sorts of projects are possible at Surface Design Space.
