KITV Hawaii Profile: Solar Manufacturing on the Big Island

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (ITV4) Hawaii is home to a new, more sustainable way to create plastic products.

Click to view original article / video interview at KITV!

A local business is bringing more sustainable manufacturing to Hawaii Island. LightManufacturing developed an innovative way to create rain catchment tanks and other plastic products without fossil fuels. The company uses a field of dozens of giant mirrors (called heliostats) to reflect the sun’s rays into a rotating plastic mold. The concentrated rays produce so much thermal energy that no fossil fuels are needed. So, unlike with traditional plastic molding, there’s no pollution.

LightManufacturing is located at The Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai’i Authority’s (NELHA) Hawai’i Ocean Science and Technology park. The technology there is called a “Solar Rotational Molding System.” The heliostats reflect more than 100,000 watts of free solar heat. Hawaii is the perfect environment for this breakthrough technology. The state derives nearly 16 percent of its power from the sun.

The concentrated rays produce so much thermal energy that no fossil fuels are needed. Karl von Kries is the founder and CEO of LightManufacturing. von Kries says,

“Our technology allows these useful products to be made with zero greenhouse gas emissions. Which is critical, its also important that by eliminating the need for fossil fuels we reduce the price of the product to the end users significantly as much as 30 percent less.”

So, unlike with traditional plastic molding, there’s no pollution. And the company is now looking to make other related technologies to recycle post consumer plastic waste.

Karl von Kries says, “We are actively working on taking that material shred it in the field. And reprocess that info useful plastic objects. So we want to take the basis we have built of sustainable plastic molding of these durable objects and now start to work on bringing in post consumer waste and closing that loop so we can produce an overall green economy in the islands.”

It’s also important for Hawaii to create its own manufacturing capabilities, which don’t rely on expensive importing. Leaders have noted that a robust manufacturing economy can diversify economic dependence on tourism. Manufacturing like this, which doesn’t create pollution, is ideal.

LightManufacturing is using this sustainable technology to produce much-needed rain catchment tanks in Hawaii. Since the barrels are made right here, there’s also no transportation cost. So, the sun-made barrels actually cost about 40% less than barrels produced with gas. The sun-harnessing technology is also capable of molding aquaculture tanks, road barriers, kayaks, and other typically imported products.

In the future, LightManufacturing plans to use plastic gathered on Hawaii beaches during community cleanup efforts to create products. This will keep plastic out of landfills and turn it into useful products.

LightManufacturing produces large durable plastic products such as tanks from 100% solar power provided heliostats. The proprietary off-grid system uses mirrors to concentrate the sun’s rays onto a rotating mold. It generates no pollution and has no fuel cost. The system allows LightManufacturing to create items in Hawaii rather than have them shipped from the mainland.

Learn more at http://hawaiitanks.com/.