Our history
BRIGHT timeline
2011
BRIGHT established
2013
SunBell’s first batch produced
2014
1st partnership UNHCR
2016
1 million SunBell delivered
2017
Move launched
2018
2nd partnership UNHCR
2019
Start launched
2021
UNICEF partnership
2022
3.3 million lamps delivered
2023
Sol introduced
How it all began
In 2010, Marius Andresen, co-founder of the design group K8, used a small flashlight from Ikea, a lid from a box of nuts, and a makeshift solar panel to create a prototype for a multifunctional solar lamp that could meet several needs in the off-grid African markets.
Not long after, having seen an early version of the lamp, advertising executive Kristian Bye joined Andresen to introduce the product to the market. In November 2011, they founded BRIGHT Products AS and named the solar lamp SunBell.
With support from Innovation Norway and in partnership with CARE Norway, SunBell underwent testing in rural communities in Kenya, Tanzania, and Bangladesh. The feedback was encouraging and led to orders from 19 countries.
2014 SunBell became the first solar lantern categorized as a core relief item. BRIGHT received its first significant order from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and we have been a proud supplier to the UNHCR ever since.
Today
Today, BRIGHT's product portfolio includes several portable solar products.
Ten years after the launch of SunBell, over 4 million BRIGHT lamps have made a difference in the daily lives of more than 17 million people.
Children use BRIGHT solar lamps to do homework at night in homes, communities, cities, settlements, and in the middle of nature. Women light up their paths for safety. Families gather around the table. Travelers light up the dark. Entrepreneurs run their businesses and charge their phones.
From our office and board room to our production facilities and distribution network:
Sustainability is central to BRIGHT’s value chain. We believe that by spreading knowledge about the benefits of clean solar energy, innovating products, and distributing portable solar products, we can enable access to light and energy anywhere.