Meet the pioneers

→ Awarded with the Afrique Excellence Prize in 2025

Joan Arwa Ogwang is using 2 Lytefire Pro. She started to test her activity in 2021 and since then she grew the Solar Fire Bakery in Kisumu. With several bakers and salesperson, she is able to offer solar baked bread, cookies and buns to regular customers. In 2024, she opened a second shop in the same area. Joan is also working with us as trainer and project manager to help create sustainable bakeries in East Africa. She is, to our knwoledge, the first woman solar entrepreneur in Kenya and we have been happy to support her installation in 2022.

→ Visit the Instagram page

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."

→ Visit their 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. At Smart Up Solar Bakery, 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.

→ Great update from 2025

→ Visit the Facebook page

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), for a small batch. 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

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. To launch their activity, they organized a crowdfunding campaign. Since summer 2023, they specialized in solar roasted seeds that they are selling on local marketplaces and restaurants.
→ Visit the site

Since 2021, Lydiane et Manu are running Du Soleil et des Graines, 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

Based in Normandy, with NeoLoco, Arnaud Crétot is the first solar bakery in Europe with 30% of bread production baked with solar. With roasting, the performances are much higher. Since 2019, Arnaud 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. To start his activity, he has done a crowdfunding campaign. 4 people are working at NeoLoco, the bread is sold in 8 shops and the solar roasted goods in 80. Arnaud is an engineer at first and he has developped several tools supporting the energy transition.

→ Visit the site

Micro-brasserie Hélie opened its doors in 2023 and organized a successful crowdfunding (here). 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. Romain is Europe’s first solar brewer. 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. After 2 years of activity, Romain needs to increase his production and therefor he is switching to a new solar system.
→ Visit the site

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 team’s experience is enlightening.

As a rural baker in the Drôme region since 2021, Vincent Reynaud bakes organic sourdough bread using a long fermentation at room temperature for Brin de Levain. 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

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

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. Au Soleil Levain is located in a magnificent landscap and the bakery building was built using sustainable construction methods. Business started is August 2024 with a focus on biscuits with his solar oven.

→ See their Insta account

Florence and Michel own L’Epi Nature, their bakery in Epuisay (West France). They use their solar oven from time to time to promote solar baking and resilience in the region.

→ See their Facebook account

Daphnée is setting up Au Pain Solaire, 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.

→ See their Facebook account

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.

In this project, started in 2025, we have been equipping, training and incubating 6 solar bakeries in East Africa thanks to the support form Jansen PrimeSteps Foundation, focusing on our joint goal of poverty alleviation through entrepreneurship.

→ Check the blog post

We are very happy to share with you that we are starting three exciting projects with UNDP (United Nations Development Program) in Africa.

→ Check the blog post

Joan Arwa is successfully running her solar bakery in Kisumu, Kenya (here). Not far from there, in Sego, she recently trained a great group supported by World Vision for the Noswet program. The group members have known each other for years and are very appreciated in the community.

→ Check the blog post

The local association Elevate Africa Mozambique installed their Lytefire Oven in 2024. The plan is to start a solar powered bakery to support their youth center by reducing energy costs, creating additional income and sustainable jobs! The project was made possible with the support from the Swiss association Wungana Mozambique who visited the training center a few weeks after the installation. They shared the pictures with us and we could see that despite the complex and tense political context in this country, people are happily baking solar "pao" bread!

NEA Energie is a renewable energy company based in Madagascar. They install solar systems for industrial and private customers.

As part of their RSE projects for 2023, they have installed two solar ovens in two isolated villages in order to support circular economy. The remote assistance to the installation went well and the first solar bread baking have been a real success.

It is in the village of Agnam Lidoubé, in Senegal, that four solar ovens are installed thanks to Adscal association and especially thanks to the extraordinary persistence of Mr Mouhamadou Touré. The ovens will improve greatly the village’s daily life.

Three ovens are going to equip existing bakeries. One will go to a group of skilled women baking biscuits and cakes. The women are in charge of a magnificent garden.

→ Check the blog post

It is in 3 locations in Guinea-Bissau that we have installed new Lytefire ovens and the equipment for the kitchens. The villages benefiting from this SWISSAID support are Bafata, Cacheu, and Oio.

This project was a bit stressful because the rainy season was about to start and everything had to be rushed to install the equipment and make the first tests. Sometimes, the weather wasn’t that great at all to bake with the sunlight. We are all patiently waiting for a better forecast in a few months now. During that time, the villages will be able to decide for the best usage of their solar ovens.

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

Jannsen PrimeSteps is a Swiss non-profit foundation supporting solutions to improve people’s quality of life. Across sectors and countries, they identify the best solutions and provide know-how and financial support to scale-up projects with a large impact potential. We are really excited and honored by their support!

This project allows us to target specifically small women groups, who are not involved in bigger institutions or supported by larger organizations. By empowering these groups with the Lytefire technology and with the skills to run their own solar business, they can create their own income, become more independent, reduce their use of fossil fuels, protect their health and improve their quality of life - with Lytefire and solar entrepreneurship. We look forward to update on the project’s progress.

More information about our Project and Jansen PrimeSteps Foundation: https://www.primesteps.ch/projekt-im-detail/solar-fire-concentration/

With the aim of offering young people prospects for social and economic integration other than working at the mine, Tora Cœur de Caux has already equipped and provided local craftsmen with a sewing workshop, a solar pump and its garden. micro irrigated and a hair salon powered by solar energy. A solar bakery is a natural continuation of the work of the association.

With a Lytefire, the goals for the Kongoussi’s villagers, in the Nasséré region, is to prevent deforestation, increase the energy security of the village, receive a training in baking and maintenance of the Lytefire 6 oven, and to contribute to the financial independence of beneficiaries. It is important for this group to welcome and train young people who have dropped out of school. Thanks to Martin Pouabijie, the training went very well and the villagers could start their bakery with at least 6 production batches, i.e. 4 kg of dough / batch; about 24 kg of bread per day when the sky is clear.

Tora Coeur de Caux has its webpage here.

SELF - Solar Electric Light Fund - is a US based NGO financing this project to support Rape Hurts Foundation, created by Hellen Lunkuse W. Tanyinga after a traumatic experience. Even if SELF is primarily focused on electrification, they understand the huge need for direct heat and are happy to support the implementation of Lytefire in Uganda with us. It is in Jinja and Kamuli that the 5 Lytefire units and solar trainings are implemented, to allow young women to embrace a new path in life by becoming "solarpreneurs" (solar entrepreurs using Lytefire).

SELF’s website can be found here, and RHF here.

Check here the results on this project in 2024.

More info to come during project’s implementation.

This projected is implemented in Alagaya refugee camp in the White Nile region with Plan International and it is funded by the Islamic Development Bank. It is meant to install a community Solar Oven under "Light Up your Future" program in Sudan. The goals of the program is the "Socio-economic Empowerment of Young Refugees in Sudan through Sustainable Energy Solutions".

Plan International Sudan’s website can be found here, and IsDB here.

More info to come during project’s implementation.

We’re delivering these training sessions to two types of groups this time; SmartUp Hubs, which are youth training centers where underserved youth can come to learn life-skills and get training on a variety of subjects from tailoring to videography, and we’re also training ‘I-Decide’ groups which are typically women-led rural cooperative businesses that focus on empowering women economically so that they can decide for themselves how to run their lives and not depend on fathers, husbands, brothers or other men who might seek to control them.

During the training we cover three main areas: Lytefire Technical training so that participants have the knowledge to install, calibrate and maintain the equipment, bakery skills training where they learn hygiene, ingredients handling and the techniques to make a variety of delicious recipes, and entrepreneurship which includes everything they need to know to market their goods, do the accounting and manage their inventory.

Youth underemployment is a grave problem in Uganda, especially since the start of the pandemic but the great thing about baked goods is that they never go out of style. The fact that these young ‘solarpreneurs’ are using pure, direct solar energy to bake their products only adds to the excitement! Many of the areas where we’re training these youth have no local bakeries. Oftentimes the baked goods come from a town over an hour away, so this, in addition to using free, clean solar energy gives our young solarpreneurs a real advantage.

So far we’ve delivered 7 out of the 11 trainings that are planned. 9 are with fresh new groups and come with the latest and greatest Lytefires produced by our amazing team in Kisumu, Kenya, and the other 2 are ‘refresher’ trainings where we’ll revisit the Lytefires we installed in 2018 to train newcomers and conduct training according to the needs of the groups.

It has so far been a tremendous experience, meeting inspiring young people and adapting our trainings to the needs of each group. We’re recognizing that no two groups of young people from different areas are the same, and their needs differ greatly. Luckily, we have a really amazing team on the ground (if I do say so myself!). We have two training teams working at the same time, the first includes me (Lorin) as well as Augustine (who was one of the SmartUp youth we trained in 2018!) and Allen (a baking industry veteran who is based in Lira, Uganda) and they are training the I-Decide groups, scattered around Lira and the Northern Region, and the second team includes Callum, Hanna and Hashimu, who you might remember from our project last year in Tanzania at the Montessori School in Mwanza. Callum, Hanna and Hasheem are now rocking the SmartUp Hubs (follow us on Instagram @Lytefire_Solar, to not miss out on some pretty incredible content!)

We are extremely grateful to Plan International and Plan Uganda for their support, and we’re proud to have a partner that is so dedicated to the well-being of young people. They’ve recognized that the Lytefire alongside the training we offer tick many many boxes: environmentally sustainable technology, healthy production of healthy products, socially just organization, empowerment for women and girls, cost effective business, and life skills not limited to hygiene, business administration, accounting and more! It’s not always easy when you assemble a bunch of young people together and put money on the table, but that’s the beauty of projects like this, we can facilitate life changing experiences and set youth on a course for a prosperous and sustainable future.

We’re looking forward to sharing success stories with you, and to working together with Plan to implement this program in more and more groups around the world.

More about the SmartUp Factory Program here.

Update from Spring 2022 - the project has been fully delivered and about 200 participants have been trained, resulting in the creation of 9 local solar bakeries. Read more in the posts.

The Montessori School and Teacher Training Center Mwanza is an education
campus for more than 1000 students. The school provides facilities from nursery
school over primary school to secondary school as well as Montessori teacher training. The staff was willing to implement 3 Lytefire and to be trained to solar baking.

In Mwanza’s Montessori school, there is a considerable demand for bread and baked goods already coming from within the institution. Beyond that, the goal is to open a shop in the neighbourhood and sell the solar-baked goods.

Our targeted goals are to create savings for the school with internalization of daily buns production, to reinforce education to climate change to the youth and the pedagogical team, and to foster a spirit of entrepreneurship among students and staff. 18 students and 6 staff members have been trained.

After a year, the school is organizing 20 solar baking days per month. Each time 452 buns (80gr each) + 100 cookies (17gr) per day are solar baked, 37.8 kg per day. They bake 9040 buns + 2000 cookies per month (757 kg per month). On this, 352 buns are used for the school and what they don’t have to buy any more bring them 25 Euros per day (500 Euros per month). On top of this, the school is selling 100 cookies (0.08 EUR each) and 100 buns (0.10 EUR each) per day to the students of the school, which creates an earning of 18 Euros per day (260 Euros per month).

2021 is also the year where Lytefire solar solution has been selected as one of the top solutions for canteens of the Global South by EDUCATION FINLAND, the platform of the Finnish National Agency for Education and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.

Mwanza Montessori school website is here.

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 team’s experience is enlightening.

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."

→ Visit their site

It’s always amazing for us to see someone courageous sharing the spirit and deciding to put time, energy, effort and money into building a DIY solar oven. This one was built early 2025 in Mexico by Pierre Brun and friends from Quebec with our plans.

As you can see, yummy solar food is being baked!

Micro-brasserie Hélie opened its doors in 2023 and organized a successful crowdfunding (here). 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. Romain is Europe’s first solar brewer. 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. After 2 years of activity, Romain needs to increase his production and therefor he is switching to a new solar system.
→ 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 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.

→ See Facebook account
→ Contact: gregpourcelot@hotmail.fr and grenoble@lowtechlab.org

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

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

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

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

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

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. In 2020, the Vagabonds raised funds to start educational solar baking projects in the region. 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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

One day, we’d like to go back in New York with a workshop where Lorin Symington will share with participants the basis of how to build and use our powerful solar oven. Like the cooker from 2015, the built oven will remain with GrowNYC to support their educational activities surrounding the Teaching Garden.

The solar concentrator was built in cooperation with the Staten Island Makerspace, and stands in GrowNYC’s Teaching Garden. GrowNYC is a non-profit which improves New York City’s quality of life through environmental programs like the Governors Island Teaching Garden.