It’s a Dumpster AND a Solar Energy System!

Ray Saluccio, owner of a sanitation company in New Jersey, realized a few years ago that his customers had a problem that needed solving. 

The problem was that his customers were having issues with the security of their dumpsters. People could get into them, steal stuff and sanitation trucks were constantly damaging them. And in New Jersey, you definitely don’t want anyone having access to your dumpsters. In fact, Saluccio says that illegal dumping is “a $1 billion plus thorn in the side of the sanitation industry.” So Saluccio decided to develop dumpsters out of recycled plastic that would stay closed, be easily transportable and resistant to damage by garbage trucks.

Simple enough, but then Saluccio started hearing more and more about renewable energy, the need to move away from fossil fuels, and decided to take these dumpsters to a whole new level and give something back to business owners in the form of solar energy.

Saluccio calls his new invention the Solar Energy Enclosed Dumpster System, or SEEDS, and it is being marketed by his new company, EarthSure Renewable Energy Corporation. Saluccio has applied for a fast-track patent for SEEDS under the Accelerated Examination Program of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The idea is to outfit the enclosed dumpsters with solar panels so that they are creating energy while collecting trash. Like the dumpsters themselves, they are transportable and modular. So businesses that don’t own their buildings can still make the investment in solar without having to go through costly rooftop installation and can scale up or down as needed in order to produce enough energy for their business. Saluccio says that the base package will have 12 solar modules and at 24 modules, will produce the same amount of solar as a rooftop system.

“Only 1.2% of corporations have the deep pockets to take part in the emerging renewable energy market,” says Saluccio. He wants to change that through this and other products that “bring solar to Main Street.” Among those will be new products with invisible solar panels and a system that he says will allow anyone to become more environmentally-friendly for 99 cents a day.

SEEDS can be fitted with other accessories such as an emergency 9-1-1 Blue Phone, safety lighting and surveillance camera, which can all run off of the solar energy it creates.

Saluccio says that his goal is to take all the dumpsters in the US and Canada – both covered by his patent – and become the single largest aggregate solar application. And he believes that goal is well in reach.

Costs have still not been disclosed, but they plan to start marketing SEEDS in early 2010. Saluccio is certain, though, that the systems will not only pay for themselves for businesses, but actually turn a profit for his customers as they sell excess energy back to the grid and take advantage of green energy credits and selling Renewable Energy Certificates on the market.

I asked Saluccio about damage to the system from sanitation trucks and vandals. He explained that the dumpsters use a spring-loaded mechanism so that the solar panels are not in harms way during the servicing of the dumpsters.

As far as vandalism goes, Saluccio acknowledges that is always a worry with both dumpsters and ground solar. Then he reminds me that each unit has a 24/7 surveillance camera. “I don’t think too many people would be stupid enough to vandalize one of these with a camera pointed at them,” he says. At least not in New Jersey.