INTRODUCTION
Smoke inhalation is one of the world’s leading
causes of death due to the nearly 3 billion people who still cook using wood
and charcoal. Every year 2.5 million unnecessary
deaths occur due to respiratory infections caused by cooking indoors using
these fuel sources.
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| Patrick Sherwin, Founder of Applied Sunshine, LLC and creator of the GoSun Stove |
Patrick Sherwin decided that there needed to be a
more efficient means of cooking, and he felt that his background in solar
energy may lead to the solution. With
over 13 years of experience in small business ownership as well as accreditation
from some of the most well-known solar energy councils, he was more than
prepared to take on the challenge of smoke inhalation.
Patrick spent years attempting to design an oven
that would work using nothing more than the sun’s energy and has finally come
to a point where he is happy enough with the design to make it a public product. The GoSun Stove is Patrick’s
answer to the world’s cooking crisis.
Utilizing a glass vacuum tube as a cooking chamber,
the stove essentially acts as a greenhouse.
This powerful little product can cook over 3.5 pounds of food in a
single setting and can actually cook at times comparable to the average oven,
able to complete a meal in about 10 to 50 minutes.
The GoSun Stove is preparing to take over the
alternative cookstove market, and I am fortunate enough to be a business partner
with Patrick throughout the journey. I
sat down with him and asked him a
few questions about how he got
started and what has led him to this point.
EARLY HISTORY
When asked what inspired
him to focus his efforts on impacting the alternative cooking market, Patrick
reflected back to a time he had gone on a trip abroad in high school. He explained, “I began taking an interest in
solar cooking at a pretty young age.
When I was 17 I was fortunate enough to go on a trip to Haiti and do
some missionary work. I’m not sure what
I was expecting when I went, but let me tell you, it opened up my eyes. I had come from a suburban area with nice
houses and nice cars and running water.
But in Haiti things were a complete 180.
That trip changed my view on the world.”
He went further to say that as soon as he arrived home from his trip he knew what he wanted to do. From that moment on, he dedicated himself to providing something to help the people of the rural communities worldwide.
He saw one of the biggest opportunities to positively
impact the world in the market for cooking.
According to Patrick, most people who go to help these underprivileged
communities instantly jump to what they think are the major factors in high
death tolls. Some of the issues include
contaminated water and poor hygiene; however, Patrick looked further into the
less known problems of third world countries and discovered that smoke
inhalation was one of the biggest threats to health.
According to him, this problem is often overlooked
because of the fact that respiratory infections are slow causes of death. There are no immediate symptoms as there
would be with drinking water with contaminants in it.
After finishing his degree in engineering, he began
working for a solar energy company, hoping to gain better insight into the
industry. He reminisced of a time when
solar energy was believed to be a futuristic technology that may never come
into existence, “when I told people that I was working with solar energy,
everyone believed that I was working with some giant panels to create
energy. Although we did do some work
with panels, there were so many other aspects of energy usage that we focused
on. Look at the GoSun Mini, it uses a
small tube the size of your forearm and can cook meals using
solar energy.”
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| GoSun Mini |
The idea for the GoSun came to Patrick during a
solar energy conference, where a booth had set up a display that showed
micro-ovens using small solar panels. He
calls this moment his “eureka” moment, because he realized that he could use
his current vacuum tube technology to make a personal oven. Before this moment he had been concerned with
making a communal oven that used a tube nearly 6 feet long.
During this point of the interview he began laughing
and thinking of how the idea of a communal oven would never work in Indian
society. After returning from the
conference he recruited Matt, who is a designer that graduated from UC’s DAAP
program a few years prior.
This is when the fun stuff began, he said. The two began making designs and prototypes
still focused around the primary component, the evacuated tube. After several designs, they finally chose one
that they believed would offer the best sun tracking and most efficient
capturing of energy.
This is the model that has been made available to
the public today. While the new design
is great and provides what the team wanted, they are looking to develop other
models specific to various regions worldwide.
Patrick then began to comment about our partnership
(since I am coordinating the design and research of the Indian market
model). He explained, “I’ve been blessed
to come into contact with individuals along the way who are passionate about
helping the community and the world. Without
the contributions of these people, the GoSun would still be a six foot tube that
nobody could carry around!”
He laughed and then began to discuss what he sees
the GoSun becoming in the next year and beyond.
THE FUTURE
Patrick sees a bright future for the GoSun that not
only allows the company to continue progressive growth, but also to drastically
cut down on the number of deaths in third world countries. After a successful Kickstarter campaign
(raising $188,000), he is more focused than ever to create a great product.
In order to reach the target developing markets, the
price of the stove will need to be reduced greatly. Currently the cost of a western designed
GoSun is $279. This price is far too
high for the low income families of the developing nations (these areas are
where we’ll find families still cooking using wood and charcoal).
After spending a short amount of time experimenting
with various materials, the team has created a version of the GoSun that can
enter the market at a reasonable $25.
Additionally, if a family cannot afford the stove at that price, there
will be micro-financing options offered.
These two basic cost structures will allow the product to enter into
several low income markets due to its competitive pricing.
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| Making iterations to the original GoSun models |
Patrick explains, “…we found a way to make this a
realistic dream. Now that the technology
can be utilized for less than $30, we have a real shot at gaining market
segments.” He then went on to admit that
the price may still be high, but over the course of the first year will save
the consumer money. Currently the Indian
community pays just over $2.50 per month to get gas powered stoves.
He also admits that the GoSun may not be a complete
substitute for other ovens, since it utilizes the sun’s energy. If a family cooks dinner at night, they
cannot use a solar stove and must resort back to a gas powered or wood burning
stove. Although that means there will
not be a complete elimination of smoke inhalation, it does decrease the amount
greatly.
As the GoSun continues to develop and have
iterations take place, it will only gain more appeal to the target market of
third world countries.
SUMMARY
Patrick Sherwin is a man with a vision. He was able to identify a huge problem in a
foreign market and decided that he wanted to change the world, and that’s exactly
what he’s doing. Patrick is an
inspiration to product designers and entrepreneurs around the world, and he has
shown that one man truly can impact an entire population.
For more about the GoSun Stove and ways you can help contribute to the mission of ending premature smoke-related deaths, please visit www.gosunstove.com
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