Frequently Asked Questions

You need a clear blue sky for the Lytefire to work. If it’s a fresh spring day, a hot summer morning or a sunny winter afternoon, the Lytefire’s can be used whenever there is direct sunshine. Diffuse radiation does not work and in cloudy weather, there is no direct radiation.
If you’re not sure you can check your region here: https://globalsolaratlas.info/map
Remember that NeoLoco’s solar bakery is in Normandy, North France. Arnaud runs the oven a few days per month to bake and roast 10 months per year. This allows him to generate a steady revenue.

The cold does not prevent Lytefire to work at all.Lytefire has already operated at negative temperatures in Switzerland and Finland! All it takes is clear skies. The temperature doesn’t matter.

The wind circulates nicely between all the mirors to prevent boat sail effect and it is possible to use the Lytefire in moderate winds but we advise to limit its use from 60km/h of wind. Beyond that, we recommend placing your mirrors in a safe position, facing the ground. If the wind is beyond 70km/h, we recommend dismantling the mirrors rows and store them inside.

On our Hub, which has a forum to support DIYers and many ressources, including video tutorials, there is a thread on wind-proofing with design suggestions for areas with strong winds.

Lytefire can be used everywhere. We have used Lytefire in the most Nordic Finland, to locations right on the equator like Kenya. So we can safely say: The Lytefire can be used anywhere on the planet whenever there’s sun!

With Lytefire Deluxe Big Oven + Roaster, you can bake 38kg (84 pounds) of bread per hour.

The different sizes of Lytefires yield different amounts, as well as the baking technique.

Baking technique: Using bread tins/pans improves the efficiency of baking as compared to regular bread baking. This is because the surface of the bread tin will transmit the heat quicker to the bread, and with the tins a lot more dough can be fit into the same oven as opposed placing bread loafs without tins.

Size of Lytefire: The larger Lytefire will bake a larger amount of bread in the same time.

So in Detail:
With Lytefire Deluxe Big Oven + Roaster, you can bake 30-38kg (up to 84 pounds) of bread per hour using bread tins.

With Lytefire Deluxe Oven + Roaster and Lytefire Pro Oven, you can bake 18-22kg (up to 48 pounds) of bread per hour using bread tins.

Check out the individual product pages for more info on each Lytefire’s peformance. The Lytefires available in your region are listed on the shop.

Build times differ greatly based on available tool set, workshop permanence, fabricator experience and the kind of music you’re listening to.
The following estimates are based on 1) having the basic tool set, the three jigs, as well as grinder, drill press, vice grips, C-clamps and metal chop saw, 2) 1 competent fabricator and a dedicated workspace, and 3) all material onsite.
For a Lytefire DIY Stove, a setback-free build can take 32 hours. 40 hours is a reasonable guess for an experienced builder. For a Lytefire DIY Oven, 10 to 12 days is reasonable.
You can seriously decrease that amount of time by putting on some good music and inviting enthusiast friends.

A variety of materials are required for the build. We attempt to describe where to purchase the requisite materials.
Steel: all structural steel profiles for the Lytefire should be available from most steel retailers. The stainless steel for the oven might be more difficult to find, but most sheet metal retailers or distributors should be able to help.
All fasteners (screws, nuts, bolts, rivets) should be available at any big hardware store.
Mineral wool or glass wool insulation should be available at most large building centers.
2 or 3 mm mirrors are available at many custom glass workshops. Cheap mirror is available at recycled home works stores (for example, Habitat for Humanity ReStore in North America). Also, Walmart has 4 foot by 1 foot bedroom mirrors for $7.99CAD that are 2mm thick mirror and yield 4 mirrors each, compared to $5CAD per mirror cut by local Toronto glass shop)
Most of the bits and pieces (for example, wheels, latches, hinges, drill bits, cutting disks, etc) are available at big hardware stores like Home Depot.
Every single thing is listed and detailed in the Lytefire DIY Stove and Lytefire DIY Oven construction manuals.

We cannot recommend any retailer nor give indication of price because it varies so much from one place to the other.

That being said, in France, all the material for a Lytefire DIY Oven with oven is between 3 000€ and 4 000€ max. In the case of Kenya, prices for the materials for Lytefire 5 can be as low as 1 354€.

For Lytefire DIY Stove the costs are much lower as it requires less materials. In Canada the materials for Lytefire 4 are around 800€, in Kenya around 400€.

A professional welding level is needed and if you’re not there yet, you can simply learn. It’s not very hard but it has to be well done.

It works exactely as with a barbecue or an open fire: you don’t let that unattended, right? So someone should stay close to the Lytefire when it’s in use. To concentrate the energy inside the oven, the mirrors can be rotated all at once every 10-15 min to follow the sun. Once you are no longer using the Lytefire, you can simply tilt the mirrors down and they no longer reflect the sun, and there is no longer any risk just like when you turn off the electricity.

Apart from some roasters getting nervous when seeing themselves in the mirrors and attacking their reflections, we have no report of animals being endangered by Lytefire.
The reason is that when not in use, all the mirrors are facing the ground and the risk, with no sun on it. During usage, the solar rays are all targeting the focal point, where you cook.
As for any stove or fire, you do not leave the device unattended.

As for any stove or open fire, you do not leave the device unattended. If you show the burning stick to your kids, they will get that they are not supposed to play around.

Like everything in this life, it’s a choice. At the time of the industrial revolution, decision makers decided to go with fossil fuels and then electricity, which shaped part of the world as we know it: constant energy availability, speed, and collateral damages. When some awareness happens, solar energy starts to be converted into electricity with photovoltaic panels coming from far away. Turns out that most of our energy needs are in direct heat, meaning that we do not absolutely need electricity for everything, especially food transformation.And this is true eveywhere the sun shines. The time for more solar thermal energy is now.

Our focus is on collective uses and entrepreneurship. You can find the huge solar concentrator in Font Romeu in France, solar plants in Spain and individual solar cookers and boxes reaching 400 Watts with relatively cheap price and even free plans. All this is great for sure and we encourage you to explore different options! Our mission is to spread widely a powerful tool delivering 2000 Watts and more. Lytefire can serve professional and semi-professional baking and cooking users, it can be installed in canteens, hotels, festivals, campings, it creates sustainable jobs in the Global South and it also inspires pioneers entrepreneurs in countries where the grid is good and the electricity is cheap.

It doesn’t pollute when you use it.
It gives you access to a free and unlimited energy (reduced energy bills!).
It creates no smoke and no dark particles damaging your health and the air.
Any meal can be cooked or baked with the same flavor.
It fights deforestation.
Read more about our impact here.

Open source is a powerful methodology to develop shared virtual tools, like the Firefox browser, GNU/Linux and Wikipedia has shown the world. The open source spirit has played a big role in the development of our model to maximize the spread of Lytefire and its impact.
But when it comes to hardware (as opposed to software, texts and artwork), the open source methodology does not apply.
Artwork, texts and software are naturally protected by copyright, and the open source licenses are in essence removing the copyright protection that is naturally given.
Because hardware innovations are not protected by copyrights, but must be applied for protection by patenting, the open source framework cannot apply in this way. One would first have to gain protection through a patent, and then remove the protection gained through this patent to open source. If you simply publish your innovation without protection, there is a risk that someone else succeeds in patenting the innovation.
So - it’s tricky. Both open source and patents have drawbacks, as patents are very expensive.

We believe in all the virtues of open source, but because of its limitations, we decided not to embrace that path. Therefore we had to define a viable middle way for our impact company. We believe the more the community grows, the stronger this unique model will be, and the more impact we can all have together, inspiring each other, on our own terms.

These terms are meant to include everyone, including DIYers who are often disregarded by companies. In that sense, we are probably the first company to offer the same innovation that we sell as products at the same time for DIYers (adapted for production with simple tools). Of course there are a differences in the designs for DIYers and those for industrial producers, because the fabrication tools aren’t the same and we hold a software to optimize for industry. But we do this because we believe that everyone needs to be involved asap in the climate and social transition. DIYers push the possibilities and awareness, entrepreneurs just want to buy their Lytefire and this is an opportunity for producers, NGOs want to create jobs, empower women in vulnerable countries, and equip refugees, so we provide our services to them. Everyone can get a Lytefire and that’s our purpose.

Join us by getting a Lytefire, building yourself, educating others or with one of our licenses. There is an active hub with different forums and lots of resources for those interested. Click here to learn more about all the different users of Lytefire.