LightLeaf Solar: The Revolution of Solar Designs

In December 2016, Rick Retzlaff received a $50 Amazon gift card from his daughter, a seemingly modest gift that would spark an innovative venture. As an avid sailor, Retzlaff was planning a month-long, solar-powered adventure through Puget Sound in early 2017. The gift card was the first step towards creating a set of flexible solar panels for his 16’ micro-cruising boat. However, the makeshift panels proved inefficient, leading Retzlaff, a mechanical engineer, to realize the market lacked suitable solar solutions for sailboats.

Driven by this realization, Retzlaff spent the winter designing a new type of solar panel. Traditional panels, with their heavy, fragile, and bulky design, were ill-suited for boats and cars. Leveraging his expertise in aerospace-style carbon composite materials and traditional solar panel lamination techniques, he developed lightweight, portable solar panels perfect for outdoor adventures.

Inspired by Saskatchewan’s DIY ethos, Retzlaff’s panels are ultra-light, weighing a quarter of traditional glass panels, and only 8 mm thick, yet remarkably durable. Despite being landlocked in Saskatchewan, LightLeaf Solar Designs emerged, catering primarily to the U.S. market with CE-compliant products ready to expand into the EU.

Based in Saskatoon, LightLeaf Solar produces carbon fiber rigid panels designed for rugged, off-grid adventures.

Read the full story in the Summer 2024 edition of Global Ventures (pg. 12)!