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St. Augustine Man Invents Portable Solar Generator

 Donna Deegan     Created: 4/25/2008 6:30:22 PM    Updated: 4/29/2008 12:06:43 AM
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By Donna DeeganFirst Coast News

ST. AUGUSTINE, FL -- Brian Bosley's dream started with a small boat in the waters off St. Augustine.

"I was going to sail around the world. That was my big dream back in the day," Bosley says.

He knew he wanted to power his boat with the sun. With an aviation background, Bosley understood the technology, but he had a problem.

"I needed something that would act as a big solar generator but not take up a lot of space," he says.

So Bosley turned his problem into an opportunity.

He created a small solar powered generator to run his boat and then a light bulb came on.

"Imagine being able to take these out to the plains of Africa and be able to run medical missions like doctors without borders," he mused.

He also thought about the military being able to go and operate in remote locations of the desert where there is no power.

First responders, who have to deal with massive power outages from hurricanes like Katrina and Rita, also crossed his mind.

Remember the scenes at the gas stations after those storms?

With a portable solar powered generator, no gas is needed.

And so Bosley's Solar Stik was born. Basically, it's solar to go.

It stores power in power packs and batteries, and transfers it to an inverter or converter.

"And then that power is transferred to things like refrigerators," Bosley says while opening the fridge and taking a swig from a cold bottle of water.

There are smaller units if you need less power. What if you wanted to watch TV at the beach?

Think of what it could do to a news reporter whose camera battery just died like mine.

It worked like charm.

But even the most complex system can be set up in less than three minutes. It took Bosley only two.

Two Florida counties, Okaloosa and Broward have bought Bosley's system for their emergency responders, and he already has a handful being employed by the military.

Not bad for a guy who just wanted to hang out on his boat.

And this could be just the beginning.

You might say for Brian Bosley the sun's the limit.

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