Mr Green founded SunFire Solutions in 2004 after returning from London where he worked for the Wall Street Journal online. Upon his return he studied Permaculture and while touring SA visited Schools with feeding schemes and noticed that Rural Schools use Firewood to cook learner’s daily meals. Crosby had seen these Bright shiny “dishes” on a trip to Zambia and thought here is a technological anom
aly that needs attention. Further research put him in touch with some of SA’s “top Sales and marketing consultants” who told him “it’s impossible to manage and run a sustainable company specialized in Solar Cookers”. These gentlemen were hired by GIZ (German development agency) who were closing a 10 year (well funded) program “looking into” commercialising Solar Cooking in SA on the basis that “the technology and people were not ready”. This greatly inspired Mr Green to found and run SunFire Solutions which has gone on to achieve the “impossible” on a daily basis for 8 consecutive years. SunFire Solutions is now established as the longest running and most successful solar cooker company in Southern Africa undergoing various metamorphoses along the way. SunFire is one of the only companies in Africa focused on clean energy cooking appliances promoting Solar Cooking as part of “Integrated Renewable Energy Cooking packages” including fuel-efficient wood burning stoves and SunBags or retained heat bags that are used to finish off meals and keep them warm long after dark. In addition Sunfire Solutions represents Africa at the worldwide solar cooker network and supports solar cooker initiatives throughout the Continent while remaining abreast of global best practises in design and project implementation. In Order to meet the energy needs of Communities where we work SunFire continually expands its range of technologies to provide households with high quality solar appliances not available from large retail outlets. Our Current range includes solar lanterns and cell phones chargers giving households light and communication. SunFire brings the same ethos and quality standards to selecting new products as we do to our Integrated Renewable energy cooking packages. Products are selected for durability and ease of use and should preferably come in a box for easy transport and installation. SunFires core aim and strategy is to supply high quality, low-maintenance effective decentralized solar technologies that improve the lives of Millions of Africans currently without energy or visible means to access energy. We believe these technologies will also be useful to houses currently connected to the grid to reduce monthly energy costs and are already seeing a sharp uptake amongst urban households. SunFire specialises in technologies that cut recipient’s daily costs from day one. We believe decentralised energy provides Africa with a clear and sustainable road map for future power development. Oddly, there are currently no subsidies or supporting mechanisms for small scale decentralised technologies anywhere on the Continent. Leaving it to small companies/NGO’s to take up the challenge. SunFires rollout strategy is therefore - out of necessity and passion - to create thousands of job opportunities for young Africans to start and manage their own businesses promoting and selling renewable energy products in their own communities. SunFires role is to act as a quality control and client care base ensuring maintenance and client care issues are professionally managed from the Johannesburg central hub. SunFire is passionate about taking an active role in shaping Africa’s eco-logical development and foot print whilst simultaneously improving conditions for the Continents rich biodiversity and people to thrive. This is achievable by creating distribution networks run by young Africans who share the same values and passion for Ubuntu. SunFire is already well underway with this process and is continually looking to expand/partner with other organisations who share this ethos. We feel that the combination of the regions widely spaced communities (impossible to supply using grid electricity) and Sun Drenched climate provides a unique opportunity for Africa to use Renewable energy Cooking and Lighting to elegantly leap frog mistakes made in the industrial revolution and elegantly resolve the Continents energy challenges. In an effort to speed up this process SunFire has founded two sister organisations - Solar Cookers for Africa www.solarcookersforafrica.com (an NPO) and www.africancarbonsolutions.com (a Carbon Offset website) to assist with making these technologies more readily available and affordable. Both organisations create more interactive opportunities for the public and communities we are trying to reach to participate in the spread of clean energy cooking appliances and associated stand alone technologies. They create new channels beyond business to reach the estimated 240 Million Southern Africans currently without access to power, the least grid connected of any region on earth. We view these three organisations as 3 sails attached to the same ship setting off for a tantalisingly close landscape that can provide a shining example of a sustainable world for other Continents to emulate - where all people have access to free energy and are therefore free to concentrate on the issues that really matter. It’s our belief that our first task as a species is to restore degraded environments back to healthy eco systems that benefit all life on earth. While Solar cooking and clean energy cooking appliances may be far from most people’s minds as a tool to help achieve these goals. It’s worth remembering that Firewood is still the primary source of energy for half of earth inhabitants, responsible for millions of deaths through smoke inhalation and that large Scale deforestation effectively robs all plants, insects, reptiles and mammals of living space further impoverishing the environment and communities that rely on them. Deforested environments affect local climate conditions and make it harder for sustainable agriculture practises through increased soil loss from runoff and wind erosion. Silted up rivers stifle life all along the water course and can even cause rivers to stop flowing above ground. In fact Cooking and eating is still the most important activity on the planet. SunFire provides a new way to achieve healthy nutrition without causing any harm to the environment or contributing to an unsustainable financial system.
