An engineer by training, Arnaud Crétot was actively involved as Chief Technical Officer in some of the first developments of the Lytefire in emerging markets until the company faced financial difficulties and we had to change things. He then decided to adopt train himself as a baker and develop a business model for his region with NeoLoco. After his training in baking, he explored all the possibilities of a Lytefire oven in the Normand climate and was positively surprised by the results. He started baking sufficient quantities of bread to live by it, participated in the development of Lytefire Deluxe and Lytefire Big Deluxe models that were more adapted to his needs. Since 2023, NeoLoco has 3 permanent employees. Additionally, NeoLoco produces incredibly tasty solar roasted seeds, gomasio, morning cereals and a locally sourced coffee alternative which he sells to small grocery stores. Arnaud has developed an innovative business model around intermittent energy and long conservation products. He is spreading widely his ideas through training, events, educational days for schools, and info days. His work is receiving lots of attention in France (+60 press coverage, hundreds thousands of view and lots of visitors for his training). Arnaud and NeoLoco’s team are for sure a true inspiration.
Visit site
Florence and Michel have their bakery in Epuisay (West France). Their Lytefire Artisan Solar Oven was built by Atelier du Ruisseau. They will start to use it from time to time and to promote low-tech and resilience with it. Then progressively, they’ll work more and more from home, using their Lytefire and a wood oven to make yummy sourdough bread and brioches.
Daphnée is setting up a solar bakery business at the Galaxi farm in Loroux Bottereau (Loire-Atlantique, France). The small solar bakery will complement the production of flour and goat cheese at the farm and in different farmer’s markets all around. The adventure starts in September 2024. The Lytefire Artisan Solar Oven was built by Atelier du Ruisseau.
Professional baker, seasoned builder and sustainability enthusiast, Sébastien decided to take the plunge and open his own bakery in the small village of Brusquet, near Digne, France. Supported by a solid network, a crowdfunding campaign led by Hélène, his partner, and an EU-grant, the project was launched successfully very quickly. The bakery is in a magnificent location and the bakery building was built using sustainable construction methods. Business start is August 2024.
Conserverie Fourmi opened its doors in 2024. Created by Manon Robert and Quentin Feutren near Rennes, France, they use the Lytefire to make their energy mix more sustainable. The company offers workshops for individuals and a solar food conservation processing service for professionals. Their wish? "To explore new ways of preserving plant food to strengthen local organic production chains and empower men and women to preserve seasonal fruits and vegetables in a resource-efficient manner, serving the food resilience of the region."
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
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
Joan with 100% solar buns baked with Lytefire PRO!
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.
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.
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.
Brittany in France being a rainy region, the choice may seem surprising but it is in the lovely Faouët village that Denis has decided to continue baking with solar. After 30 years working as a professional baker in Lyon, he created Barasol in 2023 ("Bar" means "bread" in the Breton language). He bakes with wood when the weather is bad and with solar every day of good weather (around 3-4 months / year). He sells breads and biscuits in his village and in two large markets, in Paimpol and Binic. He doesn’t bring his Lytefire Deluxe on trailer to the market yet, but it’s an option for the future. He also makes pizzas once a week. Denis works with ancient wheat flours and is passionate about developing new doughs that are more tolerant to temperature changes.
→ No site, no social media
Sylvain Foulonneau is based in West France. He is a professional boilermaker since 20 years in industry. In 2023, he created his own structure, Atelier du Ruisseau. One of his first creation is the gorgeous Rainwater Catchment System you can see in the slider! He had a crush on the Lytefire solar oven and he will happily build yours, be it the Artisan model or the Deluxe model. Sylvain can build for you in Loire Atlantique (44), Maine & Loire (49), Vendée (85) and Deux Sèvres (79). Contact Sylvain directly if you are interested!
→ Contact: sylvain.foulonneau@orange.fr
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 any one 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). Grégoire can also build for you a Lytefire Artisan in Isère (38), Savoie (73), Haute-Savoie (74), Hautes-Alpes (05) & Drôme (26). 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
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
Biscuits, 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 and Nicolas 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
The 105 women of Lougsi village, situated 30km away from Ouagadougou, have been supported by the local association SOS Energie, our team and Jansen Primesteps Foundation to get a solar oven. After 2 years, 15 of them that have been trained to solar baking and are using their Lytefire in order to produce bread 5 days a week and sell it all around. They no longer buy wood and coal and the solar oven allows them to save 750 to 1000 CFA per day (entre 1 et 2 Euros), which is significant in this tough rural context.
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
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. To innovate with Lytefire, Hélie Microbrewery has an Lytefire License.
→ 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.
Graduated as baker in 2022, Violaine decided to create the Au Gré du Soleil bakery in her region. Initially tempted by the Lytefire Deluxe on a trailer, she wanted to move it only a few times per year to bring it from her home to a family plot. She finally turned to self-construction supported by Artisan Grégoire and the LowTech Lab in Grenoble. She carried out her crowdfunding campaign and, she realized that if necessary, her Lytefire without a trailer could be easily dismantled and stored in a small van. Consistency and respect for nature are strong values for Violaine. She is starting her bakery in 2024 and she will operate on direct orders and a few markets with her sourdough breads that are made the most local possible.
→ No site, no social media
With Solarstart, Muriel wants to make young and old aware of the incredible potential of solar thermal energy in baking and cooking in Switzerland. The association first used an experimental Lytefire with a wooden structure and in 2024 they got a Lytefire DIY oven from France. Muriel organizes events to raise awareness about solar baking. She’d like to lend her Lytefire so that entrepreneurs in Switzerland can also test sun-baked bread and roasted nuts!
→ Visit the site
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
The 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
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. Nowadays, Clément Bresciani and the volunteers are informing kids in schools and enthusiastic perople during festivals. We have been lending them a Lytefire DIY oven in 2020-2023. They are focused on spreading awareness about degrowth and renewable energies.
→ 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
After 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 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 Oven in 2016, for a project with World Vision in Kenya. After that, David used the oven daily for years before moving on to new adventures. 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 the team!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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