SUNNYSIDE I UP Solar powered musical ambassadors
The solar industry has received some negative PR of late with competitive energy providers keen to highlight weaknesses, added with a growing public fear that solar is facing a crisis due to spending cuts. An impressive ambassador for the industry is a band called Solar Punch that powers all its performance with solar energy and travels the world to sing of a sunnier future.
THE members of Solar Punch used to sing about science and the environment and hold workshops to help explain simple solar concepts and provide examples of where solutions are in use at locations around the world.
Deciding this local process was not
enough Solar Punch was founded by James Dean Conklin and Alan Bigelow in 2007 after
being involved in a US State Department sponsored band called Circus Guy set up to help bridge cultural divides.
Expanding on the ‘edu-tainment’ concepts learned with Circus Guy and influenced by the activism and musicianship of local legend Pete Seeger, Solar Punch was formed as a real life example of how solar energy can be used in communities.
After participating in the breakthrough Climate Solutions Road Tour in 2009 Solar Punch has worked hard to learn more about
how solar energy works as well as about how sustainable communities. The road tour was a 35-day tour across India addressing environmental challenges with climate leadership workshops and creative eco-activism via song, dance and art. The group have continued to educate themselves about the solar potential so they can educate their fans around the world.
The group has now toured India four times and make sure they can return as much as possible as they see India as a key area of development that can benefit from solar right now in this stage of their economic development.
The initial visit to India in 2009, as members of the breakthrough Climate Solutions Road Tour 2009, really helped the band hone skills, message and mission and the band continues to create a learning process that is a two way street as they learn about projects and ideas in the region. The bands future sights are set on South America, West, East & South Africa, China, and the Small Island Nations, as well as more work in India.
Solar Punch is part journalism, part classroom, part multi-cultural bridge builder, and all rock and roll.
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www.solar-international.net I Issue II 2012
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