Drawing with Light during Earth Hour

By |2025-02-24T15:49:22+00:00January 14th, 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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AfriOceans Warriors

By |2025-02-24T15:49:22+00:00January 14th, 2020|

Suntoy is always excited to discover where our Consol Solar Jars journey after our team in Selby assembles them. Being the manufacturer, it’s interesting to find out who uses them and how they make every hour a solar-power-hour.

So, we were chuffed to spot a photo of the AfriOceans Warriors holding our Consol Solar Jars in the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) electronic newsletter. The photo was snapped during Earth Hour 2014 in Cape Town. The AfriOceans Warriors Environmental Education (AWESOME) Programme is a marine focused environmental education and shark conservation initiative for youth in South Africa. It makes us smile to know they love solar energy as much as we do!

Our Consol Solar Jar is also a warrior for South African oceans. It shone its solar light on the Indian Ocean bed in Sodwana Bay at a depth of 19.8m!

Photo by Lesley Rochat

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Wow! Watertight!

By |2025-02-24T15:49:22+00:00January 14th, 2020|

Sodwana Bay is an unspoiled environmental jewel on the east coast of South Africa along the KwaZulu-Natal shoreline. It is the perfect setting to take the Consol Solar Jar for a scuba dive to discover the rich natural bio diversity on the Indian Ocean’s floor.

Stefan Neubig of Sonnenglas went on a mini-vacation to this beautiful spot. He put a 1kg weight inside a Consol Solar Jar (CSJ) so that it would sink easily. He added an absorbent sachet to prevent moisture within the jar because of the temperature difference on land and at sea (32 degrees on land vs. 26 degrees at 20m under the sea). No modifications were made to the Consol Solar Jar at all.

Stefan and his CSJ took a shallow dip in the pool at the diving school and reached a depth of 5m. Then the duo embarked on their deep-sea adventure. They reached a depth of 19.8m and our amazing solar light shone on the ocean bed. After both adventures, the CSJ returned to the surface without a drop of water inside its glass jar, working perfectly on dry land. Its electronics, including all the marine life, were unharmed. Waterproof proven!

Harald Schulz, Suntoy Technical and Managing Director, explains: “What makes it watertight is that the inside of the Consol Solar Jar is sealed via a rubber ring from the outside. We employ a magnetic switch so there is no pathway for air or water to enter. The jar is thus water and airtight. Stefan’s photographs confirm that very nicely. It is not a technical marvel, as any jar filled with jam will do the same. It is an excellent demonstration of the build quality of the Consol Solar Jar.”

Beautifully captured, Stefan! These images are worthy of a huge wow!

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Light Sculpture

By |2025-02-24T15:49:50+00:00January 14th, 2020|

Here’s a bright idea! Transforming a flat logo into a large-scale three-dimensional (3D) sculpture of light! Made out of approximately 400 Consol Solar Jars, the Save Electricity logo was built by Mark Stead at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town for Earth Hour. This public artwork truly did save on electricity being eco-friendly and powered by solar energy only.

Conceptualization must have been easier than execution, though just as much fun. Building the corporate logo carefully – very carefully – by arranging Consol Solar Jars strategically, creating the intended form. Almost like building a giant tower of blocks while playing a wobbly game of Jenga.

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World Cup Fever

By |2025-02-24T15:49:50+00:00January 14th, 2020|

The 2014 Soccer World Cup has arrived! South Africans are excited to recreate the joyous celebrations that hit our turf in 2010. The opening ceremony and kick-off game offered all sports lovers, and even those that aren’t so keen on footie, a chance to cheer in front of television screens. The cheers for Brazil were louder when fans realised that Eskom had not spoilt our fun by load shedding during the match. That’s the spirit, Eskom!

Yet, rolling black-outs and power outages still threaten to leave us in the dark. Dearest Eskom, please check out the savvy FIFA smartphone application that informs when and where the next soccer game will be. Over the next month, try NOT to synchronise with it.

Let’s help Eskom cope with their load. Switch off all unnecessary electricity sappers during game time and use Consol Solar Jars to conserve energy and light the way to the final. Then, we can still cheer at every goal scored. Live. Not at highlights replayed the next day.

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Swiss Bio Marché

By |2025-02-24T15:49:50+00:00January 13th, 2020|

At the heart of Switzerland’s largest organic festival, Bio Marché, is a market for organic and fair trade products. With 40,000 visitors in 2,5 days, Bio Marché was the perfect stage to introduce our Consol Solar Jar to the Swiss.

Being the only South African made product included in the festival, our Consol Solar Jar elicited much intrigue. Sonnenglas, the European distributor of the Consol Solar Jar, collaborated with Bio Marché by placing our solar lights in the catering area. Many visitors discovered it there while eating dinner and then went to the Sonnenglas booth to purchase one.

Summer in Zofingen offers evenings with late sunsets and by 9pm, when the market closed, the sun was still shining. In order to adequately demonstrate the abundant light of the Consol Solar Jar, the Sonnenglas booth had a darkbox that simulated nighttime. Customers could lift a curtain to see how the Consol Solar Jar shines.

We’re enjoying spreading our bottled South African sunshine across Europe!

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Export Packaging

By |2025-02-24T15:49:50+00:00January 13th, 2020|

Export packaging for the Consol Solar Jar is revealed. Now, our jars can travel long distance in non-breakable comfort. Mr Sunshine conceived the perfect scenario to conduct a ‘scientific’ drop test. Principles in his methodology included his extra tall height coupled with the elevation of our staircase in the Suntoy factory.

Objective inquiry without bias was key. So, without further ado, here are our documented findings and resulting data:

An individual Consol Solar Jar box can drop from 1metre, four times, before the electronics come loose.

Mr Sunshine repeated the drop test to guard against any experimental error from 3m, 5m and 7m.

The jar only broke on the 7m drop.

There’s nothing like empirical and measurable proof! Science rocks!

 

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Giving the Gift of Light

By |2025-02-24T15:49:51+00:00January 13th, 2020|

Giving the gift of light in honour of Nelson Mandela was worthy of every second in 67 minutes.

Informal urban settlements spring up off-grid across cities in South Africa. Without electrification, these city dwellers rely on hazardous fire-inducing household appliances. Shack fires result in smoke inhalation, severe burns and loss of life and property.

To commemorate Mandela Day, Suntoy donated Consol Solar Jars to children and their care givers at Children of Fire, a place of healing. By manufacturing a safe, clean and rechargeable solar powered light, Suntoy aims to eradicate the causes of these horrendous burns and the long-term trauma that follows.

No candles, no matches, no fire, no dangerous and polluting kerosene or paraffin. Solar lights equal healthier environments. Burn free.

“It is time for new hands to lift the burdens. It is in your hands now.” – Nelson Mandela
At Suntoy, we acknowledge that we have solar power in our hands to make a valuable difference in our community.

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Copper Cable Theft

By |2025-02-24T15:49:51+00:00January 13th, 2020|

High above Tolip Street, a City Power employee repairs an overhead power-line cable after the theft of copper cables left Melville in darkness. On closer inspection, we realise that the technician is using a Consol Solar Jar to light up the entangled cable mess left behind by the thieves.

Another photo shows more City Power employees, outside Room With a View Guesthouse, replacing stolen copper cables with new aluminium cables which carry little recycling value and hopefully won’t be stolen.

“This job was made very difficult because they only had one torch amongst a team of six City Power technicians,” says Jacques Wallis, manager of Room With a View. He had been using Consol Solar Jars in his guest rooms, reception areas and on his walkways for over a year and promptly offered the City Power team these solar lights. The neighbourhood was elated to have their power restored at midnight – with thanks to City Power, Jacques and the Consol Solar Jar!

Who would have thought City Power, a close relative of Eskom, would find such an appropriate use for our Consol Solar Jars? Makes one think, doesn’t it?

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