Skyhook Solar, founded in Woody Creek, breaks ground with panel charge

Skyhook Solar takes a unique angle when providing a charge. 

The company, founded in Woody Creek in 2019, creates transportable solar stations that charge electric bikes, vehicles, and provide a charge for electric appliances using solar energy rather than the electric grid. It will replace its oldest electric vehicle charging station, installed in 2021, at 11:30 a.m. on Monday at the Aspen Community School. 

Traditional charging stations rely on the electric grid, which draws energy partly from fossil fuels, Co-Founder and Skyhook Solar Owner Daniel Delano said. 

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Delano said Aspen Electric, one of the city’s electric providers, is hydro-powered. Holy Cross Energy, though partly still relying on fossil fuels to generate electricity, is making efforts to source 100% renewable energy. 

But the solar stations can operate independently.

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“It’s better for the planet, the faster, the better that we electrify,” he said. “But also generate electricity through clean means rather than fossil fuels.”

The station Skyhook will install on Monday at the school will quadruple the solar capacity and electric storage of the previous station and can charge two cars simultaneously, he said. Vehicles can gain a 30-to-50 mile charge from the station’s solar-generated energy in a day. 

“Workplace charging is ideal,” he said. “The sun is shining and the car is parked there all day. So take advantage of the sun.”

Aspen Community School Teacher Garry Pfaffmann charges his electric vehicle every day at work with the solar station.

“While I’m doing work, the sun is doing its work, too. It was literally free electricity,” Pfaffmann said, adding, “If you’re getting into the electric car for the mission of environmental sustainability, air quality, solar power is a way of removing fossil fuels from the equation.”

Skyhook was also the first company to supply a solar charge for electric bikes, partnering in 2021 with WE-cycle, the valley’s electric bike company, to power over 200 e-bikes, Delano said.

The company, now based in Grand Junction, currently has 16 charging stations installed in the Roaring Fork Valley, most used to charge e-bikes.

While traditional charging stations require trenching to bury electrical equipment, solar charging stations are advantageous for their convenience to install, Delano said, making them accessible to multi-family unit dwellings and communities lacking electricity.

“We saw that solar stations could be delivered in a kit form, packed flat, and assembled on site,” he said. 

Skyhook supplied four solar stations to a community in the Navajo Nation in Arizona that previously didn’t have access to electricity, he said. Using the station, residents can charge portable lights for their homes, and children can access a hotspot with the station to do their homework, he added. 

They also supplied one to an area in Kiev, Ukraine, that lacked electricity, said Jill Steindler, who works in sales and social media for the company.

Steindler said providing electric charging stations helps communities lacking electricity move away from using kerosine lamps, which can pose health risks and are a fire hazard. 

She added that they plan to install stations outside of affordable housing complexes and the airport, among other additional locations in the valley. 

Skyhook also partnered with Lyft to extend their national and international outreach, installing e-bike stations in Montreal, Chicago, Detroit, Washington, San Francisco, and Toronto. They installed two stations in Berlin to charge mopeds. 

Additionally, all stations can connect to the grid to complement their solar charge, Steindler said. 

Apart from being cleaner than traditional charging stations, the solar stations also decrease the burden on certain areas of the grid as the demand for electric power increases. 

“If there’s a large demand suddenly in one local area, that could lead to black outs,” Delano said, adding, “For the first time in years, the demand for electricity is increasing rather dramatically and distributed energy resources like Skyhook solar products, or solar systems, that’s going to help to spread the grid load more evenly.”

The rise in artificial intelligence and data collection, as well as the increased popularity of electric mobility in recent years increased the strain on the electric grid, Delano said. 

“Increasingly, we hope that companies like ours will deliver cleaner power,” he said, “incorporating solar plus battery (power) to complement the grid and allow people to charge at workplaces.”

Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.