The Future’s So Bright…

When he started trying to sell the idea of renewable energy at 19, people called him nuts. Today at 35, Darren Kimura heads three companies that do billion-dollar business in solar energy with clients around the world.

Melissa Moniz
Wednesday - February 17, 2010
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The staff of Sopogy and Energy Industries Hawaii gather outside their Mapunapuna offices. Pictured are (front, from left) Ester Voigtel, Tessie Kotrys, Diane Manzini, Rochelle Santana, Arlene Sarte, Pamela Joe, Sher Komoda, (back) Eric Beal, Peter Sugimura, Jim Maskrey, Jennifer Names, Srivinas Vemuri, Brandon Hayashi, James Duca, Xudong Wang, Jon Ishikawa, Ryan Kohatsu, Tim Wong, Kip Dopp and Darren Kimura

carbon emissions by an estimated 6,000 tons over 30 years.

“Keahole Solar Power is looking to develop other projects through Hawaii, some even on Oahu,” says Kimura. “Our next project is currently planned to be about 10 times the size of Holaniku.”

Through his many companies, Kimura strives to take big bites out of global warming. But he also believes it needs to be done on a smaller scale.

Just last November, Sopogy introduced the SopoFlare, a scaled-down version of the SopoNova designed for either residential or light commercial use, and also the SopoLite, a pint-sized solar thermal energy collection unit that can provide 2 kilowatts of power or mobile water desalination capability. The unit can be trailer mounted and towed behind vehicles going into war or disaster zones. The U.S. Department of Defense and FEMA are expected to be among the first customers.

“It’s really polarizing to see where the attitude of being ‘green’is today compared to how it was when I first got started,” says Kimura. “Today, it’s hip to be green, I’m not complaining because it helps capture the public’s attention. More importantly being green will always be the right thing to do, whether it’s fad or not in fad.

“To me, the way you live your life has everything to do with the way you run your company. So we’ve always been extremely energy efficient. We’ve always had an energy-efficient home, consume organic foods, drive a hybrid vehicle, all the way down to the use of organic cleaners. I try to ride my bike to work when possible.”


 

Kimura admits that his commitment to reduce global warming and Hawaii’s dependence on foreign oil wasn’t a childhood ambition.

“I think it was all my mom and dad’s fault,” says Kimura jokingly of the transition to an energy entrepreneur role. His parents owned an electrical contracting company in Hilo.

“From an early age they had me sweeping up project sites, wiring homes, helping with accounting and learning about the energy industry the hard way.

Working for the family business made me unemployable by others, as I needed to be constantly doing things my way, so it was obvious I needed to go into my own business.

“I also like to move quickly and see things happen. I think the problems that we have today require fast action. So, when you work for yourself, you have the ability to do that.”

It’s this steadfast attitude that has earned Kimura numerous awards and recognition, including Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year 2000 from Ernst and Young, Top 40 under Forty 2000 from Pacific Business News, SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2002 for California, Hawaii and Arizona from the Small Business Administration, Technology Leader of the Year 2006 from the Technology Foundation, Green Entrepreneur of 2007 from Hawaii Business, and the Honua (Earth) Award for Clean Energy from the Blue Planet Foundation.

Through his outreach, Kimura has donated more than $100,000 to the energy improvements in dorm rooms, state facilities, classrooms for universities, public schools and nonprofits in Hawaii and throughout the U.S. and the Pacific.

“We now understand the damage that we’ve done to the world, and I think through that process it made me a lot more aware, too,” he says. “Hurricane Katrina and recently Haiti have made me concerned that could happen here. We can no longer look the other way because it’s happening all over the world.”

Kimura continues on his mission to break down barriers, taking on the challenges of what he says are based on a lot of misinformation.

“People are saying it can’t be done, that it’s impossible, that it’s not technically realistic - yet it is,” says Kimura. “So problem No. 1 is realizing that we can get it done. It’s going to take work and it’s going to take a lot of smart people working on complicated challenges, but we can get there.


“I think other things that are involved here are policies that were put in place in the ‘50s - these are old policies. Those laws were made during a time when the problems we face today weren’t yet big problems and the technologies to solve them didn’t exist. Policies once in place are hard to change, so that’s another big problem we have today. The reality is that the only future we have is through change.”

Clocking in an average 90- to 100-hour work week, Kimura is an agent of change, which he says begins and ends with innovation. “Our companies are very innovative, and I think innovation is a term that we need to talk about more,” he adds. “Innovation means changing the way things are today. Innovation does mean taking risks, which will sometimes lead to failure, but we need to celebrate the failure and the success.”

Kimura laughs when asked if he has plans to start other businesses and quickly replies, “My hands are pretty full, but you never know.”

Never count this guy out. It’s his stay-ahead attitude that has built billion-dollar companies that more importantly have been influential in millions of dollars in energy savings.

“I think, for me, there’s always going to be more to achieve, as I’m always looking for the imperfections or flaws,” he adds. “We’ll never get anything perfect, but life is about setting and resetting your goals.”

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