Arnaud Crétot, creator of a solar roastery and solar bakery in France

Since 2019, Arnaud Crétot has been using Lytefire Deluxe Oven + Roaster and then Lytefire Deluxe Big Oven + Roaster to bake nutritious sourdough bread, and to roast seeds and nuts to create fake coffee, muësli and energy bars. Based in Normandy, NeoLoco is the first solar bakery in Europe and has a lot of sales points. The team is also organizing workshops and training.
→ Read more about Arnaud.

Joan Arwa Ogwang is using Lytefire Pro and since 2021 she has been running the Solar Fire Bakery in Kisumu. With a baker and a salesperson, she is able to offer solar baked bread, cookies and buns for her regular clients. She bakes 30kg /day. Joan is also working with us as trainer and project manager to help create sustainable bakeries in East Africa.

→ Visit the Facebook page

Founded by Arnaud Crétot and Robin Deloof in 2009, Les Vagabonds de l’énergie is non-profit association based in Normandy. They are pioneers in the field of education on climate change for every generation. Nowadays, Clément and the volunteers are informing kids in schools and enthusiastic perople during festivals with their Lytefire DIY oven. They are informing their audience about degrowth and renewable energies.
→ Visit the site

Low-tech Lab Grenoble’s association aims to disseminate, identify and promote low-tech in the region. Grégoire Pourcelot is a low-tech developer, active member and a builder. He wishes to support bakers, restaurants, brewers, individuals or any other organizations wishing to build their own Lytefire DIY stove or Lytefire DIY oven. With Grégoire, the Low-Tech Lab undertakes to carry out the constructions. The level of support is flexible and the training courses are suitable for everyone, whatever the level of DIY (very beginner to expert). Contact Grégoire directly if you are interested!
→ Contact: gregpourcelot@hotmail.fr and grenoble@lowtechlab.org

Since many years, Michel Mouillé started his Idée d’en faire in Vendée to present different solar cooking solutions to a large audience. This structure is a limited liability company with ESUS certification (Entreprise Solidaire d’Utilité Sociale). He also organizes training to spread low technologies. He takes his Lytefire Deluxe Oven + Roaster to many festivals in France and is always ready to share his passion.
→ Visit the site

Based in Normandy, in Pays de Bray, Céline Puech launched Solé B’Rayon in 2022 with a Lytefire Deluxe Oven + Roaster. Céline has matured her project for a long time. She is offering roasted seeds, herbal salts, crumbs for deep fry recipes and also energy bars, all prepared with direct solar heat.
→ Visit the site

Since 2021, Lydiane Tirel et Manu are running their local activity in Bourg Argental. They have been among the very first to follow NeoLoco’s model in France. With their Lytefire Deluxe Oven + Roaster, they are offering a great set of sweet and salted roasted seeds products. They also organize training days at their place.
→ Visit the site

Didier Ménard runs l’Atelier Bélénos in France, near Rennes. He is roasting seeds and creates energy bars wiht his Lytefire Deluxe Oven + Roaster. His innovative spirit was awarded in 2023 with a local “Eco-Défis” (Eco-Challenges) from the Chambre des Métiers et de l’Artisanat.
→ Visit the site

After a training organized by Plan International and our team, Prudence Yoo Acel Ladegi, Benedict Bithola and friends were so passionate about baking with the Lytefire that they kept going with learning and marketing their recipes. They bake 4 times a week. People like the products and sometimes come from miles away to buy their bread or order occasion’s cakes to Smart Up Solar Bakery Nebbi.

→ Visit the Facebook page

As a rural baker in the Drôme region since 2021, Vincent Reynaud bakes organic sourdough bread using a long fermentation at room temperature. A light manual kneading guarantees more digestible gluten, and above all great preservation, for a minimum of 7 days. Rich in aroma, less salty, with low glycemic index, there is everything here to keep you healthy while enjoying yourself! Vincent got his Lytefire Deluxe Oven + Roaster in 2023 and he bakes 3-4 batches of 12 loaves per week, 2 days / week. His bread being delicious, he has now too many orders! The oven being no longer big enough, he will use his Lytefire as a back-up oven for baking and also mostly for making cookies and roasting.
→ Visit the Facebook page

Bread, roasted seeds and “bean to bar” chocolate, that’s what Bruzhun (meaning “crumbs’’ in the Breton language) offers with the Lytefire Deluxe Oven + Roaster. Enora Le Gall and Nicolas Sournac got their solar oven during summer 2023 in Brittany. This chocolate is very specific and the team is mastering the process in house from A to Z with no sugar added.
→ Visit the site

Hélie Microbrewery opened its doors in 2023. Created by Romain Zamboni near Montbéliard, it is a strong example of real circular economy. Hélie’s beers use local ingredients. The beer is certified organic and brewed using solar energy, using a solar concentrator Lytefire DIY Stove built and thermal solar panels. The bottles are reusable,and manufacturing waste is limited as much as possible, some of it being recycled for animal feed. The water needed for cooling is reused in the manufacturing circuit.
→ Visit the site

Their full name is "Change Lead Agency for Social Support". And this very dynamic group of young bakers has been part of the solar baking and bakery setting up training given with Plan International and Smart Up Factory in Uganda in 2021-2022. Since then, thanks to their hard work and their Lytefire Oven the solar bakers sell delicious doughnuts, cookies and cakes to clients in different markets on Mondays and Thursdays. The sales range goes from 12000ugsh to 60000ugsh. They are based in Alebtong.

→ Visit the site

Michel Mouillé is using Lytefire Deluxe Oven + Roaster to create a “fake” coffee based on local grains and beans in Vendée, West France. His micro-company is called Lug, named after the Celtic sun deity and it started in 2022.
→ Visit the Facebook page

Sylvain Barbot and volunteers are running this dynamic association based on the island of La Réunion. Their goal is to spread low-tech and solutions supporting sustainability and solar bakery with the BouSol project (Boulangerie Solaire). Together, they built a nice Lytefire DIY stove with a low-tech oven.
→ Visit Ekopratik’s site
→ Visit BouSol’s Facebook page

TThe Low-tech Lab Grenoble association offers training cycles for the self-construction of Lytefire DIY with a stove and Lytefire DIY oven. The goal is to support bakers, restaurateurs, brewers, individuals or any other organizations wishing to make their own Lytefire. The level of support is flexible so do not hesitate to contact them directly if you are interested!
→ Contact: gregpourcelot@hotmail.fr and grenoble@lowtechlab.org

In the Pyrenees mountains, in Targasonne (Cerdagne), at 1700m above the sea level, Quentin Mercier and Caroline Penacq created Aurinko (meaning “Sun” in Finnish) with a Lytefire Deluxe Oven + Roaster. Since summer 2023, they specialized in solar roasted seeds that they are selling on local marketplaces and restaurants.
→ Visit the site

With Solarstart, Muriel and Urs want to make young and old aware of the incredible potential of solar thermal energy in baking and cooking in Switzerland. They built a Lytefire DIY oven and they are on a journey to buy their first Lytefire Deluxe Oven + Roaster to make it available for loan so that entrepreneurs in Switzerland can also test sun-baked bread and roasted nuts!
→ Visit the site

STEM Synergy has excellent records of technical and educational expertise in Ehtiopia. It is an US-Ethiopian NGO, focused on empowering youths and women through practical education, sustainable local solutions and entrepreneurship. Since 2022, they are a licensee and we appreciate their motivation in commercializing Lytefire in their country
→ Visit the site
→ Cooperation

Since a project with Plan International Uganda and Plan International Finland in 2021-2022, the Tororo District Youth Advocay Network (TDYAN-YOVANU) continued to use their Lytefire solar oven and have a few clients. They are a Community Based Organization.

Kurt Baumann is a crafts-teacher and based on our DIY construction plans he built a Lytefire 4 Stovetop as a project with his students. The project was an ideal choice for the youngsters to develop their skills in metalworks. And finally they prepared a delicious lunch with the Lytefire!

This Lytefire was later on donated to us and we brought it to France, where it finally continued a new life as part of workshops for schoolchildren with Les Vagabonds de l’énergie.
→ More about the schoolclass on our blog

It was an exciting moment when David pulled out the first batch of freshly baked muffins from his Lytefire 5 Oven in 2016, for a project with World Vision in Kenya. After that, David used the oven daily for years before moving on to a new job. When we met, David was baking with an electric oven but the grid was so bad that he couldn’t develop the business properly. When the power was out he couldn’t bake, and with charcoal his product would be low-quality and his profit margins would be slim. With the launch of his solar bakery, David has been able to reduce his fuel costs and increase his output! The shiny Lytefire 5 also attracted many visitors to the rural bakery, and so he decided to open up a small cafe to sell snacks and beverages to the interested crowd. With a clean energy source adapted to his needs, David had the opportunity to be a creative and productive baker as long as he wanted to. His enthusiasm has been such a great inspiration for us!

We have started a cooperation with Heuberge Resort family resort based in the Swiss Alps in 2020. We have been building for them a Lytefire DIY Oven (all in wood!) as well as several high tech solar saunas using Lytefire solar concentration system. We hope they will be an inspirational example for the other mountain resorts suffering more and more from global warming.
→ Visit the site

The project with Mwanza’s Montessori school started in 2021 and is a full success because the school is since then not only solar baking 300 buns per day and saving on the energy bill but they also sale their extra baked production. The canteen is equiped with several Lytefire 5 Pro.
→ Read more

Tujijenge is a women community group that is producing both dehydrated fish and baked goods. They also engage in roasting peanuts and baked sweet potatoes. Before a project with them, every month they spent about $400 in charcoal expenses, and we were happy to see that the Lytefire has been making a big financial difference. Monica Matcha is the lead person and listening to her experience is enlightening.

With Kelvin, Mr Rami Abdun, has decided to spread Lytefire in Sudan. Solar Energy Engineer with background of mechanical engineering and expertise in Solar Photovoltaic and Thermal energy systems, Mr Abdun uses his expertise in extremely hard conditions to produce the solar oven. A first cooperation with him started in 2022.

→ Cooperation

Luc Fournaux is the manager of a touristic activity in South France. Motivated by his son, he purchased the very first Lytefire Deluxe Oven + Roaster in 2021, convinced of the enormous potential of this type of product in his region. With Le Comptoir d’Hélios, he sold his seeds to his outdoor clients as well as in farmers markets of the region. Running several activities simultaneously is no easy task, and after 2 years he took a different path.
→ Visit the site

Tora de Caux is a small French association based in Normandy, France. It is active since years in Burkina-Faso, in the Bam region. In particular, the team supports rural life in Nasséré through various actions managed by a project manager based in Ouagadougou.

→ Read more about this project

Plant, harvest and cook food while learning about sustainability and green jobs - that’s what happens at GrowNYC’s Teaching Garden where one of our Lytefire solar concentrators is regularly used by students since our first cooperation back in 2015. During 2 years, every week, students from around NYC take field trips to the Teaching Garden and are blown away by the power of the sun when they prepare off-grid meals.

→ Read more about this project

After studying abroad and working in the solar industry in the US, Moutasem Hassan is ready to return to his conflict-ridden home country and promote solar energy for a more independent Palestine.

Moutasem is motivated by the fact that solar energy not only creates jobs and reduces fossil fuel dependence, it also reduces the greenhouse gas emissions and could pose a way out of poverty. “I’m especially excited about this technology because it can be built locally, so it will not be limited by the harsh import duties imposed on us by Israel.”

Learn more about him and his successful construction.

Muhammad Hassaan is a 23 year old engineering student from Pakistan. For his final project, Muhammad and his two other teammates Zia Bakht Butt and Bilal Ahmad designed a hybrid solar and biomass power generation system. Part of their system was a solar concentrator, and they were looking for a simple and effective design to bundle sunlight. With our DIY construction plans, they built the Lytefire and were able to successfully test their use-case.
→ More about their project on our blog.

This group is based in Kampala, Uganda. They use the best ingredients and a Lytefire solar oven to bake cookies, party cakes, donuts, cupcake and more!

→ Visit the Instagram page