Lighting up the Night Run

By |2024-07-30T17:43:34+00:00March 14th, 2020|

It was an evening of love, light and laughter at the KFC Valentine’s Night Run on the 10 February. This year the usual 10 km Night Race was a “Love” themed, summer’s evening running event, with a bagpipe player and candlelit mile en route.

Over 5,000 runners left the starting line and each got to experience the effectiveness of our Consol Solar Jar™, as the jars lit the last mile with their beautiful earth friendly lighting. The effect was spectacular and when the racers returned to Randburg Harriers we received lots of smiles and positive feedback.

In keeping with the Valentine’s spirit we set up a Consol Solar Jar™ display tent, showcasing our jars and their unique versatility. Our customers will be pleased to know our Solar Jars are available online at http://solar-jar.co.za/order and more recently also at our new pop-up shop at 27 Boxes in Melville, Johannesburg.

Thank you Randburg Harriers, we look forward to see you again next year!

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Solar AstroWheel

By |2024-07-30T17:43:34+00:00March 12th, 2020|

The Solar AstroWheel was conceptualised during a convo between a ‘flowery’ artist and a ‘functional’ engineer. Its story began by envisioning something wow-worthy yet educational. How do we teach about solar energy, the Solar System and the awesomeness of the Sun using the products we manufacture? Our name has the word ‘toy’ in it for a reason – we love to play… and play we did.

Inspired by the concept of a Ferris wheel, sketches evolved into 3D CAD drawings. Designing and building the AstroWheel was no easy task, even for savvy engineers Harald, David and Shoni. Rotating a wheel with 16 Consol Solar Jars attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, they are kept upright by gravity. With an engine powered solely by solar energy, this AstroWheel was one-of-a-kind. A sculpture in the round: free-standing with no wire cables or electricity points – just a charged solar panel and solar lights.

Being a theatre-in-a-jar, we inserted aluminium plates with Solar System facts engraved on them. Keeping the Consol Solar Jars balanced and equally weighted was tricky as we carefully poured measured cap-fulls of coloured glass beads into the jars – red for Mars and ice blue for Neptune. High school science students were truly wowed!

This year, at ScopeX Telescope and Astrology Expo, our dream became reality. The star party commenced with the lighting of red LEDs for optimal telescopic night vision. As the AstroWheel spun, observers were mesmerised.
Sometimes a team of engineers needs a ‘flowery’ artist in their midst to make the recipe work :).


Congratulations to all the science project winners of ScopeX! Enjoy using your prize Consol Solar Jar!

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Spier Secret Dinner

By |2024-07-30T17:43:34+00:00March 12th, 2020|

There’s a sense of covert mystery at the Spier Secret Dinner. Classified information is discreetly revealed. A guest discovers secret ingredients to family recipes kept hidden for generations. Coupled with Spier wine, the meal is made tastier with solar light.

Caro de Waal, host extraordinaire, used the Consol Solar Jar as table decor. Inspired by a theatre-in-a-jar, Caro placed foliage within the glass jars, each representing the Four Seasons theme.

At another secret dinner, with the theme of Street Grub, Caro smoked beef skewers inside glass jars. A tasty meal illuminated by solar light.

Do you want to be privy to some golden secrets while sipping a glass of Spier wine? Check out when the next Spier Secret Dinner is scheduled.

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Decorating Your Consol Solar Jar™ This Festive Season

By |2024-07-30T17:43:34+00:00March 12th, 2020|

It goes without saying that our many Consol Solar Jar™ fans out there who love the versatility of their jars are looking forward to the many opportunities their jars bring, especially the creative fun to be had over the festive season.

The Consol Solar Jar™ can be dressed up for almost any occasion from holding special gifts, decorative Christmas to containing sweets and other treats all while simultaneously adding light and colour to a space within the jar.  We have put a festive season idea gallery together for fans to get started. See here.

If you would like to share pictures with us of what you did to decorate your Solar Jar over the festive season, you can email your snaps (5 max.) and we will consider including them in our gallery. Email to adam@suntoy.co.za

The Suntoy Team wish to thank all our fans, customers and suppliers around the globe for their support and wish you and yours a very safe and relaxing fun-filled festive season.

The Suntoy Team

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Great Expectations

By |2024-07-30T17:43:35+00:00March 10th, 2020|

With due dates pending, three mum-to-be’s were showered with love at a party in our Suntoy factory. One of the biggest life events is the birth of a baby. Imagine our excitement when we learnt that the Suntoy team had not one, but three special deliveries in store from expectant mamas: Yvonne, Phumla and Keneilwe. Three bundles of joy: Little Miss Sunshines.

All the Suntoy ladies planned the party while keeping ‘mum’ about the surprise. They transformed the wire assembly area into a party space with pink baby-themed decorations. Fun and a little naughty, the games elicited loads of giggles. Everyone enjoyed the yummy grub. It was a true team effort.

Even Harald donned a skirt in order to be invited! After much laughter, he was sent to his office. He couldn’t fool us ladies with his disguise. Perhaps, if he’d added a pair of high heels and a dollop of red lipstick, he may have been allowed to stay ;-).

We await the arrival of our new little team members. We wish all our mamas a joyful and sunny maternity leave!

Please note: this blog post has been censored. Baby bumps and a mischievous sisterhood resulted in photos not fit for website consumption.

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Theatre in a Jar

By |2024-07-30T17:43:35+00:00March 9th, 2020|

Consol Solar Jars set the stage for creativity. It’s a theatre in a jar with 360 degree views and unique stage lighting. Grab your favorite miniature object, colourful feathers, shiny gem stones, shells or flowers and place them in the glass preserve jar. Turn on your solar light in the lid and your creation is the focal point. The portability of our solar jars allows you to scout for interesting localities – mood makers as table décor at dinner; lanterns for moonlit romantic walks; light beams on a braai. So, let your Consol Solar Jar take centre stage. With our bottled sunshine you truly can have fun in the African sun!

For more creative ideas, check out our Gallery or make it a personal note.

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Drawing with Light during Earth Hour

By |2024-07-30T17:43:35+00:00March 5th, 2020|

Drawing with light during Earth Hour created a photographic artwork solely in the glow of solar light emitted by Consol Solar Jars. The backdrop was beautiful, set at Nizamiya Turkish Masjid (Turkish Mosque) in Midrand, near Johannesburg. Professional photographer, Peter Hassall, magically captured the word, Earth Hour, in solar light.

The word photograph derives from Greek:
phos = light
graphê = draw or write
phos + graphê = drawing with light = photograph

Nine people lined up in the camera frame. Each wrote a letter spelling Earth Hour backwards with a Consol Solar Jar in their hand so that it appeared right reading and pointed directly at the camera. The exposure was 15 seconds and they had to move the Consol Solar Jar in as wide an area as possible. If you look behind each letter, you will see the ghosted figure of a person holding their Consol Solar Jar.

With all the interior lights switched off during Earth Hour, 12 Consol Solar Jars were placed upside down to shine up and light the archways, balancing the interior exposure with the exterior lighting of the clouds and turrets. The contact sheet shows four images:

Top left: all interior lights turned off.
Top right: six jars turned on to light right-hand side.
Bottom left: additional six jars turned on to light left-hand side.
Bottom right: final pic.

Suntoy promises to give our planet a brighter future, the eco-friendly way, by making every hour a solar-power-hour.

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Christmas in Berlin

By |2024-07-30T17:43:35+00:00March 2nd, 2020|

South Africa is currently celebrating summer, sunny skies, beaches and braais. Yet, our distributors in Europe, Sonnenglas, are shivering in the winter ice and snow.

In Berlin, Germany, evening markets are festive season highlights. Temperatures plummet to approximately 30 degrees less than our South African norm. No matter how cold, everyone is flocking to the Sonnenglas stall to purchase Consol Solar Jars. Our Consol Solar Jar is an eco-friendly, handmade Christmas gift of bottled warm South African sunshine. What more can winter in Europe ask for?

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