Luis Plata Cavazos

Almost the entire world's population breathes air that exceeds the particulate limits set by the World Health Organization. And doing so has consequences: every year, nine million people worldwide die from air pollution. In other words, air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels is responsible for one out of every five deaths worldwide every day. In addition, electricity accounts for more than a third of the carbon dioxide emitted to produce energy because more than 60% still comes from fossil fuels, according to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Faced with the major public health problem of air pollution and the existential challenge of the climate crisis, Luis Plata Cavazos, an industrial engineer from the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, decided to create the start-up Girasolve Energy to carry out photovoltaic energy projects and thus accelerate the decarbonization of electricity. Thanks to the potential of this breakthrough, this young man has been chosen among the winners of the Innovators under 35 Latin America 2023 awards of MIT Technology Review in Spanish.

Girasolve Energy creates photovoltaic projects from scratch. Plata explains that there are companies that do not have space on their roofs to install the panels, so his start-up installs solar parking lots, which provide shade for cars and, at the same time, generate electricity (electricity that is also used to refuel electric vehicles free of charge). "Our mission is to move the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors towards a rapid transition to clean energy sources to help the environment by reducing carbon dioxide emissions and, at the same time, help our customers' economy by saving them thousands of dollars in electricity bills," the young man explains.

"Solar energy reduces the electricity bills of companies and individuals who turn to Girasolve Energy to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions," he explains. With photovoltaic projects throughout Mexico and the United States, Plata's company has installed more than 8,000 solar panels that save money and greenhouse gas emissions for its customers and the planet.

The future of Plata's company lies in expanding its photovoltaic systems in Mexico and the U.S. and storing the solar energy that is not consumed at the moment in lithium batteries. With these new services and further deployment, the innovator seeks to expand Girasolve Energy to avoid releasing as much of the greenhouse gases that threaten our way of life as possible.