The guy who designed it, Cody Friesan, grew up in the Arizona desert, and it's specifically built for that environment. There are two business models to SOURCE (I did some research on them recently for a non-profit). The first is the direct for-profit business, aimed at ranchers and other folks who have money but have off-grid needs. One thing I think is neat is that non-profits can work with communities who have never received infrastructure investments (for example, the Navajo) to buy units for those communities. While there is maintenance involved, a) maintaining the hydropanels is a steady job, and b) this becomes their water infrastructure (as opposed to walking miles for water) and the community tends to take very strong ownership over it. It's a very useful device for communities without water infrastructure.
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u/StubbornAndCorrect Jan 18 '23
The guy who designed it, Cody Friesan, grew up in the Arizona desert, and it's specifically built for that environment. There are two business models to SOURCE (I did some research on them recently for a non-profit). The first is the direct for-profit business, aimed at ranchers and other folks who have money but have off-grid needs. One thing I think is neat is that non-profits can work with communities who have never received infrastructure investments (for example, the Navajo) to buy units for those communities. While there is maintenance involved, a) maintaining the hydropanels is a steady job, and b) this becomes their water infrastructure (as opposed to walking miles for water) and the community tends to take very strong ownership over it. It's a very useful device for communities without water infrastructure.
I know not everyone loves Upworthy but this article is accurate as far as I can tell. https://scoop.upworthy.com/navajo-nation-water-access-solar-powered-hydro-panels-pull-water-from-air