One of my passions is clean energy technology and clean tech patents. My passion for clean tech patents has it roots back to the 1980s while I was studying for my engineering degree. There were few choices back then for studying solar power, wind energy, and other clean energy technologies. I had to create my own opportunities. I got a hold a the only text book I could find on solar engineering and convinced one of my professors to allow me to do an independent study class. I also designed a control system for a Darius wind turbine for an advanced control systems class. In the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, I also designed and built a small off grid house in southwest Florida using passive solar design to keep the house cool in the summer and warm in the winter. For a time, the house was powered by surplus PV panels. Back then, all the calculations had to be done by hand. There was no software or apps.
Things have really changed in the clean tech sector since then. Awareness of the impact of green house gasses on our environment, has helped clean energy technology to become mainstream. It is an active industry and I am optimistic about its future. Because the clean tech industry is active, and highly competitive, the need for clean tech patents is more important than ever.