Nokero | The World's Only Solar Light Bulb

Nokero solar light bulbs illuminate the Redline Gallery. The display, which features 416 Nokero N200s, set the backdrop for Nokero's 1-year anniversary party Sept. 1, 2011.

Stop, breathe, and take stock. In the frenzy of launching an international solar start-up, there are very few moments to step back and take a bird’s-eye view of what a company has accomplished, and where it is heading.

On Sept. 1, underneath the brilliant glow of 416 solar lights on display at the Redline Gallery in Denver, Nokero International was able to do just that. Together with many of our friends and partners, we took a moment to raise a glass to a year more intriguing and eye-opening than we ever could have guessed.

Well, not a year exactly – but who’s counting. It was January 24, 2010, when Steve Katsaros’ active mind delivered the idea for the “solar light bulb,” and four days later he had used his patent-agent skills to file a patent on the Nokero N100. In November of that same year the Nokero N200 – now our keystone product – was stocked and ready for sale.

In most business schools, they will recommend you find a market first – then come up with an idea and a business model. For Steve, the story didn’t go quite according to script. Discussions with Paul Polak, visits to the Design for the Other 90% exhibit, a trip to the Edison Ford estate … all these experiences mixed with social entrepreneurship, and innovation in general to help Steve generate the idea for the “world’s only solar light bulb”.

Steve Katsaros with newfound friends in Kenya, during a 2011 trip to help bring solar power to the region.

The fundamentals were strong. Right from the get-go we had great products, unbeatable pricing, and an ultra-streamlined business model. Nokero quickly become a leader in the industry. The press took note – stories of Nokero’s foray into social entrepreneurship were featured on CNN, the Denver Post, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, National Geographic radio, National Geographic Kids, engadget, inhabitat.com, CNet, Fast Company … the list goes on.

But would the bulb do its job? Would it be affordable to the people who use it? Would it stand up to field tests, laboratory trials, and daily wear-and-tear?

To our great satisfaction, Nokero’s partners around the globe began to find out what we already knew – that Nokero’s quality and durability, combined with its price, make it the most economical solar light on the market, and capable of transforming lives around the world. It can do what no other light can do.

Almost every week, Nokero received word of a new humanitarian program finding success.

• In Japan, thousands of bulbs were donated by Nokero and our customers to help people in disaster areas.
• In Pakistan, hundreds devastated by flooding received Nokero lights as part of an anonymously donated aid package.
• In Haiti, an entire tent city awaits more than 1,000 bulbs, to be delivered by American Green International.

A young girl in a tent city in Haiti plays with her new Nokero solar lights.

Nokero is also working with esteemed organizations like Earth Spark, Solar Sisters, Eagle Energy, Elephant Energy, Ashoka, and many others, to help make solar light the norm – rather than the exception – in developing countries.

Best of all, Nokero will soon announce a partnership with a very well-known international aid agency, which will take Nokero solar light to disaster areas, providing light to those who would otherwise be left in the dark.

Helping provide humanitarian aid is part of Nokero’s core values, but while we’ve donated or given thousands of Nokero bulbs away in our first year, our true goal is to use the vehicle of social entrepreneurship to help eliminate energy poverty.

This means our bulbs must be sold – not given – to those who need them most. The goal is to build long-lasting, international distribution networks which empower – and provide power – to people who are often forgotten by trade, industry, and industrial design.

To that end, Nokero has partnered with dealers and distributors around the world, including Eureka Forbes, who is taking our product line to India. The result is that Nokero has sold more than 200,000 bulbs to more than 120 countries in its first year. Traditional retailers, small entrepreneurs, microlenders, and large corporations are all dazzled by the magic of our all-in-one solar light, and our upcoming line of products.

On the night of our one-year anniversary, our team gathered under the light of our Nokero bulbs as the sun set. We took a moment to congratulate ourselves on a year gone by … then we promptly turned to the future.

A Masai woman holds her cell phone. Although she lacks electricity, she cherishes the SMS messages she uses to communicate with loved ones.

There is still much to do. More than 500 million people have cell phones but no electricity to charge them. These folks are often subsistence farmers who rely on their cell phones’ SMS for important information on weather, droughts, and farming techniques from their neighbors – not to mention keeping in touch with loved ones. The new P101 and P102 Power Panels can help them keep a charge on their cell phones, allowing them to keep in touch with friends and relatives.

Power outages continue to be a daily occurrence for about 1.2 billion people worldwide. Outages also affect highly-developed countries, as we recently saw with the USA’s East Coast, and with earthquakes in Japan and Chile. Nokero has a full line of products on the way which can provide much-needed assistance to anyone in a time of need, and do it in a low-cost manner.

In the past year and more, Nokero has met a wide array of extremely interesting people, and worked with presidents, prime ministers, CEOs, and industry leaders from countries from around the world. We are extremely proud to be invited to join United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the annual UN Private Sector Forum Sept. 20 of this year.

Near and dear to our hearts, we have also worked hand-in-hand with people living off grid, from the plains of Africa’s Rift Valley, to the mountains of Pakistan, to right here in the four-corners of the USA on the Navajo Nation.

It is during these encounters that we realize what we’re doing is much bigger than us. Looking back we can see that the story of Nokero is driven, at its core, by the people who use our bulb off grid, whether it’s out on the backyard patio, or on a family camping trip, or out on a farm out in the nether-regions of the world. They are the ones who take our bulb into the sun, and it is their wisdom – your wisdom – we are trying to follow. So far, this philosophy has taken us on a journey more amazing than any we could have imagined, and we are only too ready to see where it takes us in the future.