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Solar power's day in the sun

By Niti Bhan - January 9, 2010

That's the ReNu, a portable solar panel designed for the mass market, for powering personal electronics like iPhones, music players, and desk lamps due to hit the shelves in June 2010. Reena Jana interviews Robert Brunner, Chief Designer on his tactics, and he shares 3 tips for innovation. Here's a snippet,

But they didn't ask them what they wanted in such products. They asked them more broadly about their experiences in conserving power.

Friends told them about the situations when they were acutely aware of power supply. For example, "when they used their laptops on planes, they started looking at power differently," Brunner said. "They paid more attention to the battery symbol on their screens." An investor had his own moments of not taking energy for granted: "He said he is most aware of power sources is when he is sailing," Thinking of such moments when people are focused on energy use, ReGen's designers paid particular attention to their products' charge-level displays, making them eye-catching and easy-to-interpret. By putting usage on display, the unobtrusive interface influences consumers' energy consumption habits with everyday home gadgets, and is hailed as one of ReNu's most innovative features.

It was being acutely aware of power shortages after his recent move to Kenya from Florida, that led Erik Hersman to uncover some solar powered alternatives available in the local market.

This is the ToughStuff solar panel that comes with accessories to charge mobile phones, radios and even fake D-cell batteries that take direct input from the panel to allow for flexibility of use such as at night.

Niti Bhan

Niti Bhan focuses on offering strategic insight for growth opportunities and revenue generation in the rapidly evolving interstitial space between design and business. Her 15 years of experience include employers such McCann Erickson Worldwide, Hewlett Packard India, The Second City and most recently, the Institute of Design. She is an engineer and an MBA whose most significant achievement in the field of design has been dropping out of two graduate design programs on two continents in two centuries - the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and the Institute of Design, Chicago. Her areas of interest are business intelligence and trends, business strategy as well as creating a compelling user case for design as force for increasing value.

Putting the "Desi" in Design
Ecodesign, Ecolabels and the Environment
Shopping for Innovation
Seismic Shift - Changes in the global design industry
While You Were Out

2 Comments

Brecht

9 years ago

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Funny. "Regen" is Dutch for "rain". Nice product though.
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Jacek Barcikowski

9 years ago

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I like the clean design of the concept. I don't know how efficient the solar batteries are and if they can operate not faced towards the sun but I wouldn't expose my iPhone or any other electronic device to the direct sunlight.
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