7 Elements
Solar Electric Tractor
Problem: weeds
Existing solutions:
-
Hand weeding
-
Mechanical soil tillage
-
Chemical spraying
Tasty tasty weeds (Lambsquarters)
- 10 years of no chemicals (grass)
- Tilled for planting soybeans
- Great for growing giant ragweed
- Ragweed & soybeans, after cultivator
- Still lots of hand weeding to do
- $30-$70 per acre for chemicals
- hand weeding even at $5/hr doesn't scale
Great picture,
bad for harvest
Solution: The Solar Electric Tractor
A tractor that refuels itself, built by a farmer, for other farmers
Solar Tractor version 1 shown here
Solution
- Solar electric tractor
- High-power LED lights
- Open-source hardware
Ownership for the next generation
- Knowledge transfer
- Historical context
- New ideas
- Product with 40-75 year design lifespan
Ownership for the next generation
- Knowledge transfer
- Historical context
- New ideas
- Product with 40-75 year design lifespan
Version 2 shown here
The Farmhand Tractor frame, serial number 1, pre-shipment.
This is the base for the third major design iteration of the Solar Tractor
Opportunity
- 160 Million acres of corn and soybeans in US
- Weed management as a service for 1% of acres
- $48 Million to $112 Million revenue per year
- Global corn and soy acres are 4-5 times larger
Solar Tractor Version 3 shown here
Opportunity
- 160 Million acres of corn and soybeans in US
- Weed management as a service for 1% of acres
- $48 Million to $112 Million revenue per year
- Farm equipment is $100/acre annually, ~$500/acre total investment
- $25/acre for 1/4 of the US acreage invested in farm robots is $1B annual
Solar Tractor version 2 with LED weeder shown here
Opportunity
- 160 Million acres of corn and soybeans in US
- Weed management as a service for 1% of acres
- $48 Million to $112 Million revenue per year
- Farm equipment is $100/acre annually, ~$500/acre total investment
- $25/acre for 1/4 of the US acreage invested in farm robots is $1B annual
- 1 robot can serve 1-5 acres
- Processor/board/control system volume is ~25 million units per year to supply US
Opportunity: $100M to $1B
Solar Electric Tractor
By Troy Benjegerdes
