Listen to this articleStrawberry energy is a startup motivated by a simple vision: to make renewable energy sources more
accessible to all people.
For “Strawberry Tree” – the world’s first public solar charger for mobile devices Strawberry energy won the first place in Consuming category at the “Sustainable energy week 2011” in Brussels. We caught up with Filip Vranic, engineer at Strawberry energy, to discuss the company approach and its future.
Q: What is Strawberry Tree?
A: Strawberry Tree is the first public solar charger for mobile devices. It is a solar charger for portable devices, which is permanently installed in busy public places, such as streets, parks and squares. By harnessing the energy of the sun, it enables passers to charge their mobile devices when they need it most – far from home and with an empty battery.
Q: How long it took you to make final product?
A: The first Strawberry Tree was installed three years ago, since when we have improved it many times in terms of core electronics which enables more energy efficiency, balance between produced and consumed energy, measurement systems etc. We are still searching for new solutions and constantly improving our products. At the moment we have three models of permanently installed public solar chargers – Strawberry Tree, Strawberry Tree Black and Strawberry Tree Flow, and two types of smaller portable solar chargers Strawberry Mini and Strawberry Mini Rural.
Main differences between these products are in size, design and purpose.
The Strawberry Mini is a small portable solar charger for mobile devices, ideal for festivals, events and
manifestations of various kinds. Embedded touch screen enables users to play games and quizzes, and read interesting facts about ecology and renewable energy while waiting the few minutes for their batteries to recharge, while clients and event organizers can also present their own content via it. Strawberry Mini Rural is a small portable solar charger for mobile devices made to meet the needs of people living in rural areas without access to electrical energy. Apart from mobile phone cords built in, it has double LED light, SOS button for calls in case of emergency and two jacks for other small consuming devices.
Q: Could you give us advices for saving time and money during R&D process?
A: Planning is I think most important. If you fail to plan you are planning to fail. As in every other sector, good delegation of tasks, responsibilities and decision making based on thorough research is
crucial for better productivity and efficient work. Listen to your colleagues. There’s a chance they
already faced the problem you’re facing, which can potentially save you a lot of time.
Q: How do you see future at Strawberry energy? What are your plans?
A: Our goal is to enable every person to use clean energy sources in their everyday lives. In 2014 our
focus will be on delivering Strawberry Trees to diverse foreign markets such as USA and Europe, and
Strawberry Mini Rural to households without access to energy worldwide, especially in Africa. Our
wish is to help people to understand the importance of these new technologies for the better future of
the whole mankind.
