Coffee roasting powered by the sun
The world is becoming a lot more eco-friendly. There’s a trend towards using the natural resources more creatively – think of the wind farms that are springing up all over the globe, changing the landscape with tall modern windmills. Solar energy is another source that is being considered in new and innovative ways. One use of this energy that is currently being contemplated by Michael and David Hartkop is the use of solar power to roast coffee. Interesting, no?
The team is not new to this idea – they have been trying out different designs for solar powered coffee roasting in the past too. The new design which is up for funding is different from previous plans as it is more flexible – the solar panels can be fitted to the roof of an urban building to generate power, via heat energy, for the coffee roasting on the floor below. Of course, although intended initially for coffee roasting, this design could have many uses in the future if it is successful.
There are adverts online for funding for this new project and at present the target is to raise $20,000 to launch their Helios 5 solar coffee roaster design on the market. So far $2,400 has been raised towards this goal. They have used the Kickstarter online service to raise money to start new projects and businesses with donations towards funding costs.
Many individuals have been using solar panels domestically too to create electricity for their personal use. We are increasingly anxious to harness the power of the sun to help in generation of other energy sources.