Open innovation & solar: a new horizon is in the heart of coal country

Many visions were created and developed over the years, the show in the direction of what calls Economist Jeremy Rifken of the third industrial revolution: a network economy, where the whole system is interactive, integrated and seamless. This integration of energy sources is currently and will create still completely new opportunities for cross-industry relations in the coming years. For Rifken, the third industrial revolution will become a new era of "distributed capitalism" in the existing and new businesses and homeowners energy player. Unfortunately not Rifken the decompress mechanism like distributed capitalism functions on the level of raw materials, i.e. the kind and wise, will be there in which by answering the question below:

How do we create the necessary communication to ensure connections (formally/informally) to the emergence of the third industrial revolution?

Provides an important piece in this puzzle, a team of global pioneers come together to understand to the morphogenesis of human creativity at the base by experimenting with open innovation and solar development synergistically interact to increase technological change over the course of time. A living lab or iLab in the heart of Central Appalachian coal country develop, many organizations that make up the Central Appalachian sustainable development (CASE) network, to identify integrative synergies between traditional and new energy resources.

Barcelona LOW3 derived project of living Labs can be understood as a "holistic infrastructure for research and innovation and have the potential to draw off, tools for teaching, connects all three activities within the creative real world based on user co-creation and open innovation." The iLab open innovation Consortium is to develop exactly that of a peer-to-peer network, where "human creativity" used across multiple connected peers. Each participant of the Consortium provides a portion of their resources iLab participants directly.

Many regional universities, including the West Virginia University and University of Pikeville as anchor institutions serve an integral resource of the Consortium as an open curriculum and participates actively in the implementation of innovative educational strategies, based on experimental or integrative approaches to interdisciplinary research and development. An active member of the consortium of open innovation, explains Professor Peter Hackbert Berea College, that he excited a first course titled "applied sustainability: development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem" start this summer.

The development of an ecosystem open is about solar innovation already underway. This strategy allows partner companies proprietary thresholds to optimise internal returns and competitiveness to identify and identify external or shared innovation opportunities. The iLab-partner, the solar gardens Institute, believes that this innovation strategy provides an ideal setting, for the assessment of new business models.

Managing Director of the Institute garden solar on the joy Hughes, declared that it "their own shared renewable projects develop interest in local community groups to see. In addition, these communities of people, can the already projects - the ' solar gardener "completed have to learn." Hughes said, pointedly if "Tools such as software, business structures, and financial models in an open-source manner between groups, this inevitably can be shared to accelerate the development process."

Professor Hans Shaffer, a member of the iLab development team and a global expert in living Labs, underlined the importance of integrating solar development tools within a central IT platform. "The long-term sustainability of any open innovation strategy is very dependent on created on the quality of relations and effective use of mechanisms to ensure that the relational stability of these relationships in the course of time." Fortunately, the iLab team is one of the leading solar platform development, working with us is for us. "

CEO of geo adjuster, the nation forward and largest solar energy marketplace, David Levine put his enthusiasm for being a part of, what he "next generation" referred to as solar development strategy and regional transition. "The concept of a laboratory for clean-tech life in an environment traditionally used for fossil fuels is exciting." In some cases many residents in the territories are not aware of their dilemma and often that defend practices very, the most destructive to their well-being. It will be interesting to see if we can break this cycle and the kickstart is a culture of innovation, abundance and boost."

In a recent article in home power magazine, Kelly Davidson offers a clear statement that illuminates the transition strategy of the iLab. Companies that are commissioned in this proactive strategy "with the challenge of preparing Williamson for life. after the coal Production slowed in the region, and mining are increasingly automated and less labour intensive, need Williamson and coal to survive communities of new sources of income and new jobs. "

Based on what is commonly known in evolutionary circles, said West Virginia native and global expert for solar development, Murphy Poindexter, that "barriers breed innovation and power is an invaluable asset for this reason West Virginia's low-cost." He continued to openly stating that "solar makes no sense in our State now through this barrier and open innovation, maybe that is the only way to resolve this issue."

This novel approach for solar development can a new precedent for clean-tech innovation nationwide. In collaboration with the Mingo County redevelopment authority, sustainable Williamson expands currently this open innovation strategy on a comprehensive assessment of the integrated energy includes: control and response, memory, large amounts of data and a number of clean-tech - production facilities for the residential, commercial and utility-scale sectors require.

Simply, the evolution of communication has begun.

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