AlphIndustrial designer Scott Gibson, whose Highland-based company, New Sun Productions, makes and distributes backpacks, is on the cutting edge of integrating portable solar energy systems into his products.
Gibson just came back from the Sundance Film Festival, where he set up a wind- and solar-powered reception tent at the launch party of the Harmony Project, a Hollywood eco-think tank headed up by Ridley Scott, Leonardo DiCaprio and other producers and stars. “There was a lot of curiosity,” he said.
The Alpha Tent, as it is called, produces 400 watts through a wind turbine and 365 watts through a system of thin-film solar panels and small tracking units that follow the sun”™s movement. Another 90 watts of solar power is provided by a high efficiency charge- controlling device. Gibson said AV and communications systems were run off the battery. “The intent is to provide eco-infotainment,” he said. “After generating power by day, at night we would transform the tent into an infotainment lounge and do movie premieres.”
The Alpha Tent is available in three sizes. By next fall Gibson said he hoped to have a tent large enough to house 100 people, which would be sufficient for showing movie premieres. He”™s also exploring other markets for the tent, including events such as weddings and disaster relief.
In addition, he”™s marketing the solar trackers separately and will start selling the units to a national hunting/fishing chain, for use by guiding services needing a portable power source for wilderness camps. Gibson said he”™s also partnered with relief organization Can-Do.org. Members of the organization are utilizing his solar kits for relief work and communications in Rwanda.
Gibson, who attended Parsons School for Design in New York City, said he began distributing solar panels for the outdoor camping market two years ago. He outfitted the National Geographic kayak expedition of Jon Bowermaster, a resident of Stone Ridge, around the coast of Tasmania. Bowermaster has been kayaking a different ocean each year to track the effects of global warming on indigenous populations. Gibson provided Bowermaster”™s expedition with a portable solar energy unit, which was used to help power the video camera.
He also supplied a solar-power tent at a six-day adventure race in the Moab Dessert in 2006. The air-conditioned tent was designed to provide medical assistance to the athletes as well as relief from the desert heat. However, Gibson said the tent was a failure ”“ one problem was that it absorbed too much heat. He subsequently enrolled in two solar-energy classes at Ulster County BOCES to learn more about the technology. That training and further experiments eventually resulted in the success of the Alpha Tent.
Gibson said originally he intended to develop a solar awning unit to provide power for a home air conditioning unit. “I discovered the technology isn”™t really here yet,” he said. He said he is in contact with The Solar Energy Consortium and hoped that TSEC could “open the doors to the colleges that have the R&D resources.” The consortium”™s contacts with solar energy researchers could be invaluable, he said. The R&D “is an important part of my ability to develop these mobile renewable energy solutions, beyond taking something off the shelf and custom modifying it. I hope to come up with new solutions not out there currently.”
In the meantime, Gibson”™s bread and butter is the backpacks, which are made out of waterproof sailcloth. He has half a dozen employees and sells the backpacks both online at wingnutgear.com and direct to retailers, both domestic and overseas. “Japan can”™t get enough of the bags,” he said. “The weak dollar is helping us.”
