Solar powered coffee business
Solar Roast Coffee was started in 2004 by brothers Michael and David Hartkop. At the time, Michael was an apprenticed coffee roast master, and David was a special effects artist with an interest in alternative energy. So that they could move out of their parents' house in Oregon, they decided to combine their talents and go into business together. The idea to build a solar coffee roaster from scratch came out of the necessity to build a coffee roaster for low cost, and the desire to create a practical demonstration of concentrated solar energy.
They constructed their first solar coffee roaster from an old satellite dish in their backyard. It used 100 plastic mirrors to focus sunlight to create heat, and a broccoli strainer, which served as the roasting drum. Dubbed the Helios 1, the roaster could produce one pound of coffee at a time. When Michael and David tried the coffee they had made, the realized that it was not only excellent in flavour, but possibly the most eco-friendly coffee ever created. Michael and David began business as an online venture.
During the summer of 2005, the brothers constructed a new solar coffee roaster, the Helios 2, using glass mirrors and an improved balanced design. The new roaster could roast over 2 pounds of coffee at a time, and took just under 20 minutes per batch. They attended several festivals and events with coffee they had produced, and generated some local news interest.
Sustainable business
In 2006, David and Michael realized they had to make a change if they wished to stay in business: Oregon afforded only about 3 months of sunny weather, and it was nearly impossible to sustain a solar powered roasting business during the winter months. They constructed a third roaster that was built onto a trailer that could be moved with them. The Helios 3 mobile solar roaster could roast up to 5 pounds of coffee at a time, and easily folded up for travel. They attended several events, and made visits to Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Colorado, looking for a new home for Solar Roast Coffee.
In 2007, Michael and David made the decision to move their business to Pueblo, Colorado. There they opened their first retail coffee shop, aptly named Solar Roast Coffee. Pueblo was their final choice because of its small to medium size, it's affordability, its excellent solar exposure, and the fact that it has its own university. Their parents were their first investors, believing in the business enough to help them secure the resources to start the business in earnest.
The Helios 4 used a mirrored solar concentrator measuring 35 feet across. It could rotate and elevate to track the sun, and provided around 20KW of heat energy to the roaster in the container behind. Despite many challenges in creating this new solar coffee roasting system, the new roaster went into operation in the first quarter of 2008. It was capable of producing up to 30 pounds of coffee at a time, with a batch taking around 20 minutes. This enormous roaster uses a movable wall of mirrors to focus sunlight onto a receiver box, which heats air to several hundred degrees. This heated air is then ducted into the solar roaster. In addition, the new roaster is outfitted with a conventional propane heat source to assist when needed, particularly on cloudy or extremely cold days.
In 2010, Solar Roast Coffee received a business development grant from the city of Pueblo through the Pueblo Economic Development Corporation (PEDCO.) The grant was slated to be used by Solar Roast Coffee LLC to create a new generation of solar coffee roaster, the Helios 5. The new system is designed to be a downtown attraction, located on the premises of the solar roast coffee shop. Moving the roaster from Pueblo County into town also has great time benefits, streamlining the coffee roasting & shipping process.
The brothers have now completed the Helios 5 solar coffee roasting system. This new solar powered coffee roaster was first begun in 2010 with an initial investment from the Pueblo Economic Development Corporation (PEDCO). As of July 2012, they have demonstrated the full functionality of the Helios 5 solar electric roasting system, which draws electrical current from a PV fed grid-tie in order to power large electric heater. This system is used in conjunction with a standard natural-gas heater, making the system a 'solar-electric-gas hybrid' system. Further refinements are yet to be made, but the new system means that Solar Roast Coffee finally has its sales, production, and shipping departments under one roof for the first time!
Solar Roast Coffee is working in collaboration with fellow Coloradans Nathan Stern and Chris Bass in Denver. Their spin-off business, Solar Roast Coffee: On The Road, is a fully functioning cafe on wheels. Together, they exclusively serve Solar Roast Coffee to the Denver area along a constantly updated route.
