INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Sowunmi Olabode Jr

1) Tell us about yourself.
1) . I am a former mechanical engineering professor at MIT. In the 1970s I developed MIT's solar module, later licensed to Chevron. I am the author of Sunup to Sundown (McGraw-Hill), a layman's book on solar energy that has sold 20,000 copies. I have 26 US patents, including 9 in solar energy. I have 30 years general management experience, having founded six Silicon Valley startup companies: two in solar energy, two in production processes, and one each in consumer products and sourcing.

1.1) Green energy and the value for the end user.
Our company, Focused Sun LLC, manufactures a 4'x8' (1.3m x 2.6m) solar module for rooftop or ground-mount installation. Low-cost mirrors reflect sunlight into an absorber delivering both heat and electricity. Our payback is 3 years instead of 12 years. Half of that improvement comes by eliminating 95% of silicon wafers, cutting our costs in half. The other half comes from capturing both heat and electricity, doubling our energy savings.

1.2) Sustainable investment and return of investment for the low income Middle class. Return of investment. Return on investment is the most important attribute of any solar energy system. Ours is about 24%/year compared to conventional flat plate PV panels at 6%/year.

1.3) Environmental impact for society with clean energy. Our modules use 90% local materials to make high quality solar modules. By eliminating 95% of the silicon wafers in a solar module with mirrors, we reduce the environmental impact of this sometimes toxic renewable source to 5% of conventional flat plate solar panels.

2) Can you let us know a little more about your technology and why you believe it is relevant to the developing countries in Africa? We have the highest ROI system available yet our low cost production methods can be implemented in any city over 100,000. A 50-worker factory costs less than $250,000 and can make $60 MM of solar product annually that produces over 250 MW of power. We are working with an Oxford University organization to bring these modules to African villages to power a local village grid. Our modules deliver both electricity and heat. Electricity can power computers, phone base stations and refrigeration; heat is available for cooking and disinfecting.

3) Do you foresee any issues with regulation in your destination countries? No, most regulation in solar energy is about durability issues. When I did solar back in the 80s, many people were cheated by shoddy solar panels that were supposed to last 20 years but really only lasted a few years. We have designed our module using the most conservative engineering design goals to ensure the module will last. Here in the U.S. we will lease our solar modules. As the local “solar utility,” our design must be robust or we have to fix it.

4) What is the total cost of ownership (TCO) like and what are the financing options? We believe our installed costs will be $2500 USD/kW for electricity. A typical U.S. home needs a 3 kW system, costing about $7500 USD. Our financing plan in the U.S. is solar leasing. American tax subsidies for such a system is about $7500, the same as its costs. The system is essentially free if you lease it from us.

5) Do you currently have proof points in terms of places where your solution has been deployed? No. We are a startup that has received seed round funding from which we developed a working prototype. Currently, we seek first round investment funding to commercialize the module and make a standardized factory.

6) In Nigeria, the Energy Commission of Nigeria is to be responsible for innovations in this area. Are you planning to collaborate with them? Yes, with Nigeria and with other African countries. One of our team members Toure Mahamar is from Mali and has taught thermal engineering at the Malian National School of Engineers. Toure has connections with many African countries.

6.1) Give us a visual graph (X & Y showing the potentials) that explains the advantage of your solution compared to the present solar powered solution.



6.2) Do you have any pictures that can be used for the story.
Prototype Module in San Jose, CA



6.3) Could you recommend someone we may talk to, that knows well enough your technological solution. Name, email and phone numbers would be supportive.
Rene Francis, r.francis@telia.com
Toure Mahamar, toure99@hotmail.com

6.4) Where do you plan to run your pilot test run. We are talking with half a dozen small cities in the U.S. to set up a solar factory in their city: Chico CA, Richmond CA, South Bend IN, Duluth, MN, Utica NY and Las Cruces NM.

7) What else would you like to add. We view our product as solar factories, not solar modules. Yes, we have the lowest ROI solar module. But that module will have little impact unless it’s deployed quickly and efficiently using low-cost factories. We are looking for other small cities (50,000 to 200,000 population) to work with us setting up solar factories. Please contact us if your city is interested.

8) Finally as a busy person, how do you create time to relax? I live on a small ranch here in the Chihuahuan Desert of southern New Mexico. A few miles away is the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument where I hike with my dog searching for tracks where palezoic reptiles walked 30 million years before dinosaurs.
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Sowunmi Olabode Jr