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Bringing an innovation to the masses.

Time Magazine recently unveiled its Top 50 Inventions of 2009.  While many of those inventions are really useful, or very cool, or are destined to save the world, my favorite is one that many of you might overlook.

That is the Dow Powerhouse Solar Shingle, which is basically a solar panel that has been turned into a regular roofing shingle.

Solar panel technology has been around for years, but it's still very rare to see (especially in the Midwest).  That's because solar panel installation is prohibitively expensive (frequently over $30,000), requires special installation and takes decades to pay off the original investment.

Plus, normal solar panels are ugly, and (if the owner wants to maintain the curb value of their house) are limited in where they can be installed.

The new solar shingles could solve many of these problems.  They'll cost up to 15% less than traditional solar panels and can be installed much more easily.  They're small, so homeowners can start with just a few solar shingles and install new ones gradually (instead of taking the costly plunge all at once.) Plus, as you can see from the photo above, they blend right into the roof of the house.

The reason I love this idea so much though is because it means that the solar panel is finally becoming approachable - and that means this innovation is finally about to take off and become really useful.

A new invention can be very cool, such as the new technique for cloning puppies or the Human-Powered vending machine (two other inventions on the list), but until that invention becomes a reality for real people in their everyday life - it's still just a cool science project.

Don’t automatically throw away failures.

Photo: diegofuego via Flickr 

In invention, there will always be failures.  Substances won’t mix as planned, or a resulting substance will come out with very different properties than expected.

For people who are trying to invent a substance that achieves a very specific goal, it’s very tempting to throw those “failures” out and start again from scratch.  Which makes sense from a business perspective.

But from an innovation standpoint, that might be a big mistake.  Failures can become wildly successful – if they are just put in the right area!

In 1968, a chemist at 3M failed miserably when he tried to develop a stronger adhesive. The glue was strong enough to hold papers together, but it was easy to peel them apart - not at all what the inventor had been trying to achieve!

If you feel that you've heard this story before, you're probably right.  That failed adhesive is the glue used in Post-Its and is probably one of the most famous failure-to-success stories out there.

On the other hand, you've probably never heard the story of the failed refrigerant (the gas used in refrigerators) that spread 'round the world.

In 1938, a chemist at DuPont was trying out a new Freon gas combination when he ran into a problem: the chemicals he'd combined not only had zero cooling properties, they didn't even make a gas! (Whoops!)  Instead, he had a very slippery, non-corrosive, totally-inert plastic powder.

But instead of throwing out his mistake, he tested its properties. DuPont also promoted the powder and experimented with it themselves.  And the powder took off.  It was an important component used in building the first nuclear bombs, it's been blasted into space, put into the human body, worn on Mount Everest, used in building bridges and even cooked on.

What was that horrible failure of a refrigerant?  Dupont named it Teflon.

Both of those inventions were miserable failures in the context in which they were invented.  But they've both become amazing successes.  What made the difference was that the inventors didn't write off a result of their experimentation.  Instead of throwing it out and forgetting, they took note of the unique properties of their invention, and found a context where that invention excelled.

Something to think about, isn't it?