Raising an Army of Solarrikins

As I remember the events of 1998, I keep thinking of the Australian concept of the larrikin. Look it up and you’ll see that the word is usually used to describe an unsavory sort of hoodlum, scoundrel, or ne’er-do-well. But as the son of Aussies, I know there’s much more to it than that. Larrikinism has come to evoke a tradition of irreverence, a disregard for propriety, and a willingness to challenge authority—all done with a pinch of self-deprecating humor and charm and a certain positive energy too, which is one of the main traits of the larrikin, I believe. People who dare to challenge the status quo should embrace these qualities—whether swinging from heavy machinery or journeying into a lion’s den of teeth-baring oil bosses, armed only with some DVDs to try to get the word across that there’s a better way to boil water. We need to be courageous, irreverent, forward-thinking, and—most of all—positive.

To revolutionize our energy system for the good of our country and the world, we need leaders in the solar-energy movement to be firebrands and troublemakers, passionate activists and savvy, scrappy entrepreneurs. We need them to be solar larrikins—indeed, solarrikins!

I’ve always believed that if you want to change the world, you must first realize that the world can be changed—or, to state it in a more positive way, you have to know that you can change the world. I’ve found that truly great activists and entrepreneurs share this knowledge. These people have also been willing to rock the boat, allow themselves to obsess about their passions and goals, and fight their way out of the muck they’re sure to find themselves in from time to time, whether we’re talking about a team of college students set on creating the next big Internet sensation like MoveOn.org or YouTube, or the couple working toward their dream of opening their small town’s first farm-to-table restaurant as a part of the movement for community-supported agriculture.

Yet those who want to grow the business of solar face a unique challenge. These entrepreneurs have ol’ King CONG to contend with, and they need a particular determination and sense of humor to take on such a behemoth. We can’t be scared off by the aggressive methods the fossil-fuel industry used to kill off earlier generations of the electric car and a lot of electric public transportation systems to protect their interests. But the solarrikin grits his teeth, braces for the fight, blows a raspberry, and keeps in mind that the struggle is half the fun, no matter how bloody the battle.

As Dan Epstein, who runs a business incubation and acceleration organization known as the Unreasonable Institute, says, entrepreneurs have to be “unreasonable” in the sense that George Bernard Shaw meant when he said, “Progress depends on the unreasonable man.” Unreasonable men and women are going to be the activist-entrepreneurs who lead the charge away from Dirty Energy companies that cling to the unsustainable stored power of King CONG and toward the direct solar resources that we get free from the sky. These are the folks who will get sustainable, affordable, transformative solar products into the market on a worthwhile scale.

But where are all these rooftop revolutionaries, these role models, these activists and entrepreneurs who are going to act as the examples of what I call the New Greatest Generation—the folks who are going to stand up to the challenge of our time, bring on the best form of electricity generation, and create a universe of opportunity that makes the Internet look like small beer? Well, they’re all around the globe. Allow me to introduce you to some who have inspired me and are sure to inspire you. Look ’em up, read their stuff, replicate their approach to business and life, emulate their attitudes, and begin the work of transforming energy in our world. We need them, but more importantly we need you to look upward, not underground, for electricity.