Richard Nelson

Thank you for your interest in Sola Roof. My nickname here is Sola Roof Guy - click see my contact details. I have added a note below to update the 2010 DIY Food - "grow your own food" campaign and the 11th Hour campaign of 2011 and then the Birth2012 - now we have past the Tipping Point our action plan and hope for a future of abundance for all rests on success with the Sola Roof Coop. To look deeper into the past you can see Outook For 2007 or my 2006 and previous years! messages. I would love to hear from you!

As a quick introduction I would describe myself as an inventor, and from early age I found I could envision a very different world than the one I see around me. Especially I was unhappy with the urban environment and sought to find a way of living that is not cut off from nature but that draws natural energy into our daily life. My vision is that our dwellings will be living systems; a sun space where we would be constantly refreshed and sustained by creation itself.

I do not see the benefit of the short sighted race to consume all the resources of the planet, while living separated from nature in our "grey zone" urban sprawl cities. And in addition, I am not enthused by conventional agriculture and find the solutions for food production that are currently practiced to be part of the problem. As an alternative, I was drawn into the idea that a transparent structure could become a dwelling that would provide natural, ecological life support and so I worked to create a controlled environment that would be a "garden home" and which would utilize solar energy efficiently.

Thus I spent my entire life developing the technical capabilities and innovations necessary to construct such an efficient "solar controlled environment" that would be literally a living space, which is capable of supplying energy, food, water and a refreshing atmosphere in which to live,work and play. Lacking the means to build such the living structure of my dreams, I found that the Ecomimicry Architecture & technology I was developing was useful to the commercial greenhouse industry and of interest to the emerging solar industry, and so I gradually developed the Sola Roof technology, building many Sola Roof projects over a period of 30 years. Past work, present activities and future vision will be documented, as time allows at my Sola Roof Guy personal wiki, which is an ongoing project. If you would like to know more about my work experience as an entrepreneur please see Nelson Resume.

The outcome of these years of work on technology for solar living is now providing the foundation for the various projects and plans that are being developed by our Sola Roof Community, here at our Sola Roof Wiki, which is an initiative that is nested within a wider Open Eco Community through which we can work together to build a global community united in diversity.

I do hope that you will get involved and help us to build a sustainable future for all people, since this is the best foundation for a peaceful and prosperous life that we all seek.


As we begin 2013 I feel that this new decade will bring a breakthrough for our global Sola Roof Community and we will make a difference - all over this troubled world WE will co-create a small space (the POD) where families can work to make this world a better place.

We can use Sola Roof to enable Ecomimicry Architecture; we can have a light and bright Eco Habitat, WE can heal the planet if we act soon enough to stop the acceleration of Climate Change, then the Global Challenges will not overwhelm society - we can all draw inspiration from Avatar The Movie - the dream is alive!