“The biggest challenge for us, [is] we’re selling a solution to a problem that most people don’t know about,” explains physics teacher and CEO of NOMADD Desert Solar Solutions Georg Eitelhuber.
We’ve said before that Saudi Arabia may be cutting its own reliance on oil and increasing its use of solar energy.
The country began a $100 billion solar funding program in 2014, joining the likes of the UAE, Egypt, India, and Jordan in boosting solar energy production.
Now, you’re likely thinking about the major problems with this plan: paying for the solar equipment, integrating it into the Saudi energy grids, installing the panels in the sunny desert areas of the country…
And what about the dust?
This is the problem that NOMADD is addressing: solar panels in desert areas can lose as much as 60% of their energy production capacity during and after sand storms.
In order to clean a dusty solar panel, a person would normally have to go rinse the panels off with water. This costs time, money for labor, and, of course, water, all of which can add up.
The startup, NOMADD Desert Solar Solutions has created a simple way to solve this problem: it’s called the NO-water Mechanical Automated Dusting Device, from which the startup gets its name.
The design includes a long 3-5 meter tube, which runs along rails from one end of a solar panel array to the other cleaning as it goes.
According to Eitelhuber, this process can clean a solar panel array 99.5%, at least as well as water.
The process is automatic, though there’s a chance it could also be connected to an app that will allow the owner of the panels to trigger the cleaning process manually.
NOMADD has gone through Lego-modeling, patenting, and seed funding of $200,000. It is now in beta, having been sold to several buyers under Engineering Procurement Construction Firms (EPC’s).
This model allows for EPC’s to bid for government-tendered projects, and for NOMADD to be part of the individual project designs. The startup will also gain part of the revenue from the project.
NOMADD is aiming to be more widely commercialized, and has a $1 million Series A funding round coming up to reach that goal.
To continue reading about this new Saudi solar startup, click here to read the Tech Crunch article.
Until next time,
Keith Kohl
Check us out on YouTube!A true insider in the technology and energy markets, Keith’s research has helped everyday investors capitalize from the rapid adoption of new technology trends and energy transitions. Keith connects with hundreds of thousands of readers as the Managing Editor of Energy & Capital, as well as the investment director of Angel Publishing’s Energy Investor and Technology and Opportunity.
For nearly two decades, Keith has been providing in-depth coverage of the hottest investment trends before they go mainstream — from the shale oil and gas boom in the United States to the red-hot EV revolution currently underway. Keith and his readers have banked hundreds of winning trades on the 5G rollout and on key advancements in robotics and AI technology.
Keith’s keen trading acumen and investment research also extend all the way into the complex biotech sector, where he and his readers take advantage of the newest and most groundbreaking medical therapies being developed by nearly 1,000 biotech companies. His network includes hundreds of experts, from M.D.s and Ph.D.s to lab scientists grinding out the latest medical technology and treatments. You can join his vast investment community and target the most profitable biotech stocks in Keith’s Topline Trader advisory newsletter.
