Low-cost solar panels made here working to change the world

WKYC.com, 04/06/2010 — Cleveland is working to position itself as a leader in alternative energy manufacturing. And while there's been a big emphasis on wind energy, a start-up company downtown is working to take their solar panel system global.

Cleveland is working to position itself as a leader in alternative energy manufacturing. And while there's been a big emphasis on wind energy, a start-up company downtown is working to take their solar panel system global.

In an abandoned flower shop in downtown Cleveland, something new is growing. A company called Sunflower Solutions. It started as Chris Clark's senior project at Miami of Ohio University.

"So, I was doing a lot of research into the water crisis, the lack of electricity, and that really exposed me to the water crisis, the lack of electricity, no food and that really exposed me to something I didn't know before that," Clark says.

Clark developed a simple solar panel tracking system, a way to manually adjust a solar panel and direct it toward the sun. Otherwise, flat solar panels only get direct sunlight for three to four hours per day.

"To give someone the availability to track the sun manually, very low cost very reliably, it drops the cost dramatically. And we could not only power water pumps, but we could power schools, hospitals, farms, businesses," he says.

The symbols to adjust the solar panel speak the language of color and sun position for easy translation.

Clark says, "Three positions is all you need to capture about 94 percent of the total energy that the sun gives out everyday, which is pretty dramatic."

Clark has working systems across the world, from Kenya to Nigeria, and from Cleveland to Denver. But this Northeast Ohio native is keeping his budding business right where it started.

The area of Cleveland and the surrounding suburbs are really trying to establish itself as a sustainable city thanks to businesses like Clarks.

"Ecowatch Ohio" is hosting the green gala Friday April 9 and will feature sustainable businesses and products locally. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be in town to talk to those attending about the importance of sustainability.