Here is a short video (in French) to understand how Romain is using his Lytefire:
At the beginning of 2024, our colleague Muriel went to visit Romain Zamboni in East France. The goal was to understand better his work and motivation to start a solar powered brewery. Romain has been able to adapt the Lytefire Community Cooker to his needs with an Innovator license. In this discussion, Romain explains more about the different ways he works with solar energy to power his activity.
How did you discover the Lytefire?
First time I heard about Lytefire it was through Arnaud, the baker. I don’t really remember because it was years ago. I was already interested in solar thermal energy at the time. And I didn’t really know about solar concentrators. I knew more about solar panels, to heat water. But then, maybe through social media I heard about Arnaud. I saw what you’re all doing and I thought it was good.
What was your reaction when you saw a picture of your first Lytefire?
I think I was, maybe, surprised and happy to see that. I was happy to see something concrete/real. Because it was already a device which you can use for real, and not just for yourself, like in the backyard. It was actually a real tool, to make things. Maybe make a living out of it. That’s what I found the most interesting.
Why Lytefire?
I think I choose Lytefire because it’s the simplest way I found to test my idea. I already knew that I needed some concentrated solar power for my brewery. And Lytefire was from what I found, that was existing already, it was the simplest. And the design I built and experimented with, was the quickest to make.
How did you choose to start a solar brewery? How did you come up with the idea? Your background is in engineering. Could you tell us your story?
“I trained as a Mechanical Engineer. I worked for several years as a Mechanical Designer, in several companies and several industrial sectors, and in particular on very high-tech electric flying vehicles. After gaining a more advanced awareness of ecological and social issues, I questioned technological innovations that are made without consideration of process. I volunteered in different associations and that’s when I developed a great interest in solar thermal energy. I have never been an entrepreneur before, but at that moment, I felt the need to create the profession that suited me, both in terms of values, skills and impact. It is in this context that the solar microbrewery project took shape, because I have been brewing as an amateur with my brother for several years. Beer brewing is particularly suited to intermittent solar heat for several reasons. There is a need for heat during two different stages of brewing and these needs are themselves different. This is an opportunity to use two completely different solar thermal systems (and to make a great showcase of them!): thermosyphon solar panels and a solar concentrator. On the other hand, beer is a conserved food, so there is no need to brew every day (or even in all seasons!) which leaves the opportunity to adapt my production flow to the available solar energy. All this brings us to the purpose of the project which is to ‘Inspire new uses of solar heat through the example of a microbrewery.’ ”
I am therefore discovering all the aspects of entrepreneurship and I am well helped by the cooperative to which I belong: Coopilote, which allows me to concentrate on my activity by relieving me of a good part of the administration. I was also able, and I continue to be able, to train myself thanks to Coopilote on different aspects such as marketing, communication, management, and so on.
Hélie micro-brewery has been open for a few months with a store for direct sales. I’m just starting to approach professional actors. The beers are well appreciated in general, obviously depending on personal preferences, but I have good feedback overall. They are organic certified and during the production we try to minimize waste. Direct sales to the brewery are also a good opportunity to show off the solar equipment. I also try to organize regular visits to explain concretely to visitors how the brewery works.
Do you organize events or open days for visitors?
I did two public events. The first one was more than a year ago, it was just a small exhibition, with some explaining charts, pictures, some explanation of what I was going to do here and how the Lytefire works. At that time I already had built the Lytefire community cooker because it was one of my first things to do in the brewing process. This year in September 2023 we had the opening of the brewery. We were selling beer, and showed the people how the whole process works with the real equipment installed. During those days more than 400 people showed up.
I plan on having more events. One of the reasons is that the brewery I built here is an example of what can be done. So I want to show it to people. And also, since my brewery is very small compared to other breweries, the beer I’m selling directly is cheaper. It’s better to sell directly.
What are people’s feedback about your Lytefire?
Most people are surprised in a good way. They have a lot of questions, actually two kind of questions. The first one is about the brewing process. Compared to the baker, more people know how to bake bread (more or less).
For brewing beer, there’s not much common knowledge about it. So I have lots of questions about that. And then also a lot of questions about the Lytefire.
Do you feel that you are able to convey to people what moves you?
I think that what people like here is what I’m showing them, not just what I say, it’s what I did. I think this is what they find here, a real existing project.
What inspires you?
What inspires me is to see that I’m not the only one thinking about changing the way we are living and what it means in terms of impacts. Seeing other people doing things that are quite similar or much different. Just asking themselves why they’re doing what they’re doing and how does this work. I mean compare to climate change, this is just one small aspect but the whole system is very global. That’s what inspires me.
Does it give you hope to see how many people are coming here?
I don’t know if hope is the right word. I would say, not hope but energy. Satisfaction a bit. But hope is not what I need or want. Because I mean, I don’t think that I do what I do, because I think that what I’m doing will make a significant change. I do what I do because I think this is the best thing to do. But I don’t expect it to change the world. This is why hope is not the right “driver” for me. My work is a very small puzzle piece. That maybe, at some day, becomes a bigger one because, maybe one day we will have a hundred solar breweries in France, I don’t know. Actually I’m not thinking of this right now. If it happens great, if this doesn’t happen, I don’t really care, I’m doing what I think is best considering where we are now.
What social hope does Lytefire represent for you? Do you think this model can spread? Like NeoLoco or differently?
Yeah. I think it can. And I think it does. I see that the oven is a great product. I think we will see more and more solar bakeries and roasteries. It’s very appropriate for this I think.
How does 2024 look like for Hélie?
It will be the first whole year with the brewery open. And also with the production. I don’t have the experience with winter. So this will be the first whole year I’ll have. And this will give me some knowledge and experience of what I can expect with the brewing process. How much solar energy is available? Can I brew enough? This will be very interesting to know even if each year is different. I hope that more and more people will know about the brewery. I will find an economical balance. This is the way I should make a living. I hope this will happen one day. If it’s 2024 this is great. And maybe I would start to build a bigger Lytefire. Because if I look at the equipment at the brewery, the size of my Lytefire is a weak point because it’s too small for me. It’s the most limiting aspect for now. I want to be able to change that. Because the rest of the brewery is sized doing 500 liters per batch, my concentrator boils 150 liters per day. This is what I need to think about now. Yes, there will be events, but right now I don’t have anything planned.
What do you think of the hub and the desire to create a form of mutual aid and sharing around Lytefire?
I think it’s great. The more we can share knowledge and tips and everything the better. It can make everyone save time. And also as I said I’m in a cooperative system, even if I’m the only one working in this particular brewery I like having some kind of professional environment. We share the same problem even if others are not making beer, or not working with the sun, still hhaving the same problems and sharing about those I think is great.
A final word about Lytefire?
It’s the simplest way to use solar concentrated energy.
All pictures (c) Romain Zamboni
