- You know what I love?
Window blinds.
With a twist of the wrist,
I can regulate all light.
Twist right, sunshine.
Twist left, darkness.
A half twist either way, and
there, a magnificent glow
that gives that dramatic selfie lighting
with the lines of sun and shadows,
highlighting a chiseled
jaw and strong brow.
Then I ask that person to move over
so I can actually take
a picture of myself.
Now blinds can do more
than give you the power
of changing the sunlight;
now there are blinds
that have the power to capture it.
(upbeat music)
This man, Yevgen Erik, is tackling
the growing energy demands of
households across the planet.
SolarGaps are blinds
that generate electricity
from the sun through,
of course, your window.
With these solar blinds,
you can keep your house
at a comfortable temperature
while saving money
and reducing your carbon footprint.
Yevgen spoke to me from Kiev, Ukraine.
Hello, and thank you for
being on Innovation Nation.
- Hi, Mo, thanks for having me.
- What sparked the idea
for your smart blinds?
- So I'm observing the sunflower,
how they track the sun,
and my idea was, can I do
that with ordinary blinds
that can be installed on your
window and generate energy?
- With his background in
cybernetics, Yevgen and his team
got to work building and
designing a set of blinds
that could move automatically
according to the angle
of the sun, just like the sunflower.
Explain how they work.
- Basically, it's a simple
process of converting
solar energy to the electrical energy
thanks to photovoltaic
cells built in the blinds.
- While all this energy
is being converted,
the blinds are also acting as shades,
thereby reducing the need
for air conditioning
and lowering your bill by up
to 30%, according to Yevgen.
What is the technology used
in making the blinds work?
- Our blinds is a plug-and-play
energy device, which connect
directly to your wall
outlet and provide energy.
- So you can power your
home devices, your lighting,
your electrical appliances,
while also tracking
your energy consumption
on your smartphone.
Unused energy can be stored
in a battery for later use.
On average, a standard-sized
20-square-foot window
can provide about one
kilowatt of energy per day.
That's enough energy to
power about six laptops
in a workday, all from a room with a view.
Thank you for being on our show.
- Thanks for having me.
