Ning Responses

Below are some of the responses from my Ning site that lead to the final idea.

Under the forum Product Ideas:

Niral said. . .

How about table tops and benches in outside areas as a surface to capture and store solar energy? Could be helpful to create a stock of solar energy...

Or maybe there is a way to make desk / table tops a recharging surface. They capture and store the energy and then let’s say, we put our cell phone on there and it gets charged or even our laptops....could be an interesting product idea!!!

From this we brainstormed on the idea of adding bio-solar tables and umbrellas to public plazas with charging stations for electronics:

Ted said. . .

While this would be a good public resource, as with many past public works projects, it may not be politically acceptable until there begins to be a natural demand for it. Instead this same concept may find its initial introduction into "private plaza" uses - think Starbucks outdoor dining and private company courtyards (as an employee benefit, aid in doing their work), etc. Educational institutions, such as the one I develop technology for, would see this as a big assist to continue to provide attractive community space that would encourage the free exchange of ideas in a non-structured environment. There is always a demand for power outlets in existing student lounges and study spaces, this would help significantly in meeting that demand. In addition, it would promote diversity and cross-discipline conversation as students from across the institution are brought into contact with each other as they wait for their devices to charge. All with minimal investment

Private companies, especially restaurants/coffee shops, are always looking for that competitive edge to help bring customers to their location, and especially favor those that make the location look "popular". Free to use outdoor charging stations do both, and would be economical for the business to invest in, also! Think of it as the next "Wi-Fi" bandwagon for these types of customers to jump on

Public investment would follow at a later date due to public demand, perhaps similar to the "free" Wi-Fi service provided at major Universities, or as a public/private partnerships, as is being done for accessible Wi-Fi service for all city residents in some major metropolitan cities.

Kelley said. . .

The major problems with Bio-Solar in public plazas are that they would have to be highly portable as tables and umbrellas are taken in every evening and put out every morning by workmen. In addition, they would subsidize people's private energy consumption (i.e. phones, iPods, etc) by passing off those costs to implement and maintain charging stations to the City. Bio-Solar would be best used by the city on reducing its current electricity usage, such as trash cans that compact garbage, solar parking meters, solar street lights, etc.

Jessica said. . .

Okay, so what if there was a private contractor that could provide the tables and umbrellas, maintain them, and even set them up in the morning and take them down at night for restaurants, schools, and city plazas? They could be free at restaurants and schools to attract customers and as a benefit to students, but these same stations would charge a small fee in public plazas to supplement the cost of the service. Also as an added benefit, any energy not used to charge electronics would feed into the city power grid and that would cut down on the businesses electricity bill.

Poll Results

Would you support the use of tax money to install Bio-Solar tables and Bio-Solar umbrellas with wireless charging stations in public spaces?

75% Yes

25% No

Should jellyfish be farmed for solar panel production?

100% Yes, as long as it’s humane

What kind of Bio-Solar Power Product would appeal to you?

50% Traditional, solar panels for residential and industrial use.

33% Travel, charging various electronics on the go.

16.7% Leisure, powering my equipment while at the beach or camping