Indian Solar Invention Reduces Food Waste

       

       
        A group of Indian graduate students have came up with a solution that helps reduce the problems faced in rural areas in India: food, electricity and income. Vaibhav Tidke, Shital Somani, and Aditya Kulkarni had used different scientific backgrounds to innovate a solar conduction dryer, which helps to dry out fruits and vegetables, enabling farmers to preserve and sell the food at a higher price. This, in result, solves several problems at once as this technology reduces food spoilage, extends food shelf life and allow nutritional retention, helping the agriculture-dependent livelihood earn more.
        Their creation, known as the Solar Conduction Dryer (SCD), recently had won the grand prize at the 2013 Dell Social Innovation Challenge (DSIC), an initiative of the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service at the LBJ School of Public Affairs in the University of Texas. The trio had received $60,000 in prize money to help fund and commercialize their project.

Solar Project Development - There's an app for that!

       In these days where technology is constantly advancing in society, there has continuously been many varieties of apps in the market that may satisfy anyone's needs. Even solar installers and developers have thought of the idea that they should possibly develop their own app (as business is usually operated when you choose to accommodate the needs of the public, which also includes the topic of conveniently having your services be available).
       A recently developed app, known as Solar Site Design (SSD), happens to be a free app available to anyone that may possess a smartphone or any smart electronic device. The app, in essence, is a project management solution for solar professionals in that it helps streamline the project development process by enabling mobile data gathering and uploading project specifications to the content management system. The data for all active projects is, then, available anywhere and anytime (either with the app or on a web browser) so that solar installers and solar professionals are able to view the files on hand.
       Solar Site Design's aim is to reduce the "soft costs" of solar project development by streamlining the process of acquiring new customers and having convenient access to local utility processing and any paperwork required. Project professionals can also input data, pictures, and even videos of the solar site during project walk-throughs and accessibility through the app or the website.
       According to Eco Branding, a company specialized in providing marketing services to clean-tech and sustainable businesses, they compliment the use of SSD as follows:

    Typically, installers will visit each site multiple times, and files permitting and municipality regulations in order to get all the requisite information for feasibility drawings. However, with SSD's free application, installers are guided through a data collection process at their initial sales visit with home or business owners. Once all the data is synced to the Solar Site Design interface, SSD's team of solar engineers look over the data and prepare a feasibility report for the installers. Depending on the scale of the project, the report can take between 2 and 5 business days. This technology reduces costs for contractors and makes it easier to acquire more customers.