Serial number 200,000 in a Consol Solar Jar lid rolled off the factory floor! Here’s a special blog post authored by Mr Sunshine, aka Harald Schulz, our intrepid Technical and Managing Director. Celebrate this important milestone with us.

Hello Team Suntoy and all our valued customers. A total of 30 people at Suntoy are directly involved in the manufacture of the Consol Solar Jar (CSJ). Big thanks and well done to all of you on producing 200,000. To Consol Glass, thank you for giving us this opportunity. Time to reflect and entertain with interesting statistics.

Units Produced:
The first CSJ rolled off the line on 21 September, 2011. That month we made 804 units. The quantity then steadily increased to 6,157 per month by May 2012, one year ago. This month we expect to ship a total of 27,000 units.

Interesting Facts on Weight:
1,000 rolls of 5kg or 5 tons of steel wire have been used. That’s a total of 165km of wire in total! We have produced and shipped a total weight of over 150 tons of product.

Light and Energy Output:
If Soccer City filled to capacity – that’s 94,736 people in total – and each person held two Consol Solar Jars, 10,000 jars would illuminate the field. These CSJs would produce 24kW of renewable power, approximately equivalent to the light output of 3,000 standard Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) light bulbs.

For Propeller Heads:
The energy held in batteries and recharged every day by the sun is theoretically 288kWh. The average South African uses 4.5kWh per day. Purely mathematically, the 200,000 CSJs we’ve produced could supply 64 South Africans with their complete electricity demand. In terms of energy production, 200,000 CSJs would comfortably be able to power 24 households.

By comparison Ethiopia ranks amongst the lowest electricity users in the world per capita. In Ethiopia the average person uses 0.12kwh of electricity per day. Our 200,000 CSJs produced could therefore supply 2,400 Ethiopians with electric power.

Congratulations Team Suntoy!

A simple idea is spreading light worldwide. By day, it stores solar energy. At night, it shines solar light. The Consol Solar Jar is more than just an innovative and eco-friendly light source. It’s a theatre in a jar and a gift worth giving! Check out this movie that shows its multitude of uses.

Charlie Holland, a British sailor, and his 87-year-old vessel with a 1962-Kelvin engine, the Schwalbe, have sailed every ocean over the last decade. Accompanying them on a recent voyage was a Consol Solar Jar. Charlie emailed to tell how this solar light assisted him during a voyage at sea.

“Our Consol Solar Jar hung off a hook in the galley. In the daytime the solar light charged on the wheelhouse roof, inside a life-ring we used for curing fish. During particularly lively weather, we heard it crash to the deck. Another time, it dropped in the bilge and bounced off the steel frame that supports the engine. The Consol Solar Jar is extremely robust and after each drop, it still worked perfectly. It was especially useful at night in the wheelhouse, as the beam from the LEDs didn’t interfere with our night vision. This solar light quickly became our go-to light source for accessing all areas of the boat. Even in daytime, the forepeak needs light when looking for spare line and with its hanging handle it leaves two hands free to do the searching. The Consol Solar Jar should be available in every marine supply shop, worldwide. Every boat should have at least one!”