There is a world where renewable energy can be user friendly and ridiculously good looking! At Grouphug, we believe creativity & design can push solar technology to be more accessible. The Window Solar Charger is an awesome product that helps people charge small electronic devices as well as shift the way we think about consuming energy. After 2 years of satisfied customers, the mood has begun to change. The Window Solar Charger was quickly getting too small for growing phone batteries. I undertook the task of creating an updated version.
Creating this new product required us to build from the ground up. Our small team consisted of our founder and designer Krystal, an electrical engineer named Antonio, and myself. Krystal created a new solar array and Antonio engineered the circuit board/battery duo. I took these designs and put them into our signature frame made of bamboo, updating it to fit the new size constraints.
With only a month in a makerspace, I ordered materials and got to work perfecting the design of the frame for the panel. I had to test function and fit frequently. I had to overcome many issues throughout this process as making something by hand has much more room for error than in a factory setting. By going through these processes I was setting us up for success, when it comes time for mass manufacturing.
With our first prototype in hand I led a beta testing program of 8 volunteers. I manufactured 10 of what we started to call Window Solar Charger 2.0, and shipped off 8 of them to be tested by users. I led interviews over Zoom going through the entire user experience, from the ordering and shipping process, to unboxing, to use, and later, extended use.
Krystal and I had frequent check-ins about how the testing program went and what design changes we would make based off my observations. We had a set budget and retail price in mind when we sent the final designs to our manufacturer in China. We had to stay agile as the quote we received back from the factory was way over our price range. We tweaked our design in a few places to get the quote down to the right number, and then it finally started to feel real.
The last step in the process is to create a kickstarter campaign to fundraise for the initial factory run of 1,000 units. Photographing the product, community engagement, and a concise marketing strategy are in order to be able to launch the campaign in the coming months. With this new product Grouphug will be able to continue to inspire users to reduce their consumption of fossil fuels and remind them that solar can be beautiful!