Consol Solar Light
Creativity & necessity have resulted in the manufacture of a truly beautiful and simple solar lantern. Suntoy, a South African solar renewable energy company, were approached by CONSOL Glass in December last year to see if they could design a solar light that would fit into the lid of CONSOL’s standard one litre preservative glass jar.
While Johannesburg took their annual December break, Harald Schulz and Peter Hassall of Suntoy, took the opportunity to tinker and test various options for a solar lantern. It wasn’t long before they had a working prototype and were aware of the challenges facing them. Designing electronics, matching re-chargeable batteries to the solar panel and waterproofing an outdoor light, retro-fitted to an existing bottle manufactured for the last 30 years by CONSOL, was some of the small design criteria. The two big concerns were durability and reliability of the unit and the on – off switch. The external mechanical switch used by most lighting manufacturers is a potential problem, due to durability and waterproofness of the unit. After a few prototype designs, Harald invented a truly brilliant switch that has no moving parts and is 100% waterproof. It is the first light switch of it’s kind and has been registered with the patent authorities.
Instructions on how to use and charge the lantern, are printed on the reflector card inside the bottle. This card directs the light forwards, to enable light coverage suitable for reading a book or lighting a small area in your home. It is a light for everyone. Rural communities without electricity can now have reliable light.
A full day’s charge in the sun is giving 9-12 hours of light at night. A rainy overcast day give about 3 hours of light. Obviously,
The CONSOL Solar Eco Light has a wire handle that can be used for hanging or carrying the light. This was another area of deep invention. We couldn’t find a manufacturer in SA who was able to bend and form our wire to our specifications, so we have had to invent machinery to suit our purposes.
It can be removed and replaced with printed messages for events, functions and product launches.
We have even designed a menu card for one of SA’s restaurant groups so that outdoor tables have a light and menu contained in one unit on their table. No more smelly paraffin lamps.
The unit is 100% waterproof, so be creative, write or design an insert, hang it up or throw it in the sea - you can now truly send a message in a bottle.