In order to move our process into the great in-doors, we enclosed our Helios 3 solar coffee roaster in a 24 foot geodesic greenouse dome. The transparent plastic admits enough direct sunlight for the soar concentrator to roast our coffee, all in the comforts (sometimes overly warm comforts) of the dome.
Mike and Dave stand inside, the roaster heating up for our first test!
Mike, Dave, and Nathan, all posing with the solar coffee roaster. It was quite the task to move to Colorado and set it all up before the shop opened! Yikes! As it stands, the entire system is entirely off grid, with out so much as an extension cord tying us to a grid of any kind. (We will need to plug in an AC unit this summer, but so far, so good.)
The parents came out so visit for opening day, shown here visiting while coffee is being roasted for the opening.
Behold... the glory of the Helios 3 Solar Coffee Roaster! (just don't look at the hot-spot too long, or you'll go blind...)
Dave finished the dome with a nice metal door. Note the inset window detailing, which echoes the overall formal structure of the volume. Note also how this interplay serves to contextualize the formal elements of industry and personal space to achieve a gestalt, embodying the delightful industrius -but friendly- spirit that is Solar Roast Coffee... Very high-concept. Oh yes. Only the best when it comes to roasting this stuff!
