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Christopher Clark
Sunflower Solutions

The Nominator: Bob Sopko, Case Western Reserve University

How has the nominee implemented sustainable business practices in his or her business or organization and what are the triple bottom line benefits (people, planet, prosperity) of the nominee`s work?
The development of the Sun Seed allowed Sunflower Solutions to provide solutions in many locations that have limited capital.  By tracking the sun, the Sunseed Solar Tracker needs  35% - 50% fewer solar panels than a stationary roof or ground mount installation.  The Sun Seed can be used with any solar panels and has the option of adding panels as additional funds become available over time.    The first installations were in primary schools in Kisumu, Kenya, and Rwinkwavu, Rwanda, Africa.  The Kisumu school, Mbaka Oromo, was adopted by Cornell University Professors Cindy and Harold Van Es and Jim Nowak who for the past five years had been supporting it in various ways through an organization called Partnerships Africa Lansing Schools PALS.    Through much time and effort, they facilitated the construction of appropriate school buildings.  Even without what many would consider standard amenities such as electricity, their choir had become one of the nation’s best for more than a decade.  They now wanted to expand and supply electricity to power lights and computers.    Initial estimates were that the Kenyan school would require 300 watts of electricity to light the administrative offices and power their computers.  Sunflower was able to use the proposed panels and double the output to 600 watts, allowing for expansion of lighting and power for computers in the library.  To power the entire school would require  $13,500  in solar panels, but Sunflower reduced the  cost to around $9,000, using 40% fewer solar panels.    In Rwinkwavu, Rwanda  a primary school of 600 students, the overriding reason to generate power was to meet the criteria to be eligible for funding available through the One Laptop Per Child program.  In order to participate in the program, the school needed to show that it had electricity available to charge the laptops.  Hooking into the existing power grid was  impossible due to their remote location..  School officials first explored various fuel-based generators. Due to numerous costs, maintenance, geographic and safety issues however, they decided solar was the best method.    To power the 300 laptops would have required $4,500 in solar panels, but using the Sun Seed the same 300 laptops are powered using only $3,000 in panels.    School administrators could now utilize computers for a number of their tasks and have email communications locally and to the world.  Lights were now available into the evening for extended instructional and study times.    The school in Kisumu is nearly two hours from the main city.  Many people near the school had mobile phones with no way to charge them. They had to travel to the city and pay to plug them into a kiosk. Within two days of installing the solar panels, the school started a business offering local residents fairly priced charging services without having to travel to the city.  This provided an immediate revenue stream for the school, enabling it to purchase resources and, over time, additional solar panels.  It was a totally unexpected benefit.    The One Laptop per Child computers that required power to charge them were starting to be used in classrooms.  While much training and experience would be needed, the process has begun.    An internet cafe for the local community was also being built in both schools as another service to the area and an additional revenue stream for the schools.      Many schools and other buildings throughout the developing world had no electricity.  There was a need for safe, bright lights at night, motorized fans and, if possible, the ability to power computers for administrative and educational uses.    Schools could be eligible to receive laptop computers from the One Laptop per Child program if the school could show that they had power to operate the computers. This further solidified the reasoning behind providing a multipurpose electrical supply.    In addition to lights and computers for schools, other applications could be served in agriculture, businesses, hospitals, homes, emergency aid, etc.

How has the nominee inspired you to implement sustainable business practices?
I was drawn to Sunflower Solutions’ creative method to optimize the use of solar panels through some minor adjustments a few times a day.  It reminded me of my volunteer time with First Robotics, started by Dean Kamen, who launched Segway and a number of other innovative companies. Dean talked about how those in developing countries do not have access to abundant resources and that we are responsible to use our intellect and our access to help provide solutions for their problem.    In addition,  our church has raised funds to help bring fresh water to Africa. Sunflower Solutions appeared to be a way to effectively do this.  I met with Chris and some others to discuss whether this solution would be appropriate for helping fulfill the needs of people in Africa.

How can someone else translate the success of the nominee? Is the work of the nominee an example or model that others can follow?


How does the nominee actively participate in the sustainability community? How do they collaborate and share their knowledge with others?
Chris is a part of http://www.goldcald.com/ .  The organization is an incubator helping various companies in the area.