SMIT—Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology—is in the running for a Pepsi Refresh grant of $50,000 to make their Solar Ivy product a commercial reality.

Started as a thesis project by Sam Cochran in 2005, the Solar Ivy concept proposes a flexible net of pholtovoltaic leaves that can be draped over a building to capture electricity. Though iterations of the project have popped up several times on the web in the past couple of years, SMIT is now prepared to go into commercial production, and they need this grant to do it. Watch Sam's video below, go read about how they plan to use the money and, if you can get behind it, vote!

There are, of course, hundreds of other ideas: Solar Ivy is our favorite, but you can browse them all here. You might also consider submitting your own proposal: Pepsi Refresh is a monthly grant program that awards $1,300,000 in grants to great ideas. The next submission cycle ends on the 15th of February: more information on that here.

thanks, annie!