Because I’m a stuffed aquatic animal, I have faced discrimination working in the solar industry. Over and over again, I’ve heard, “He’s supposed to live underwater. What could he know about the sun?” Despite these challenges I’ve risen to the top of my field!

Abandoned stuffed animals, often left on beds in sunny windows after their living companions leave for college, are an as-yet untapped renewable energy source. My startup, PolySol, installs solar panels on stationary stuffed animals that are no longer hugged regularly. This lack of human contact guarantees that our light collection cells are unobstructed for the majority of the year. A single neglected stuffed animal receiving 6 hours of sunlight can provide energy to run an EnergyStar rated refrigerator for a full week.

Optional batteriers can store energy for use when collection panels are temporarily removed when companions return home during winter breaks, summer vacations, or especially hard breakups.