StartupSmart Awards 2012: Illumination Solar

Founder(s): Shane Thatcher, Liz Aitken, Nick Barr 
Revenue: $372,000
Started: 2010
Head Office: Victoria
Employees: 3
Industry: Other
Website: www.illuminationsolar.com

The solar industry has taken a beating these past few years, but that hasn’t stopped Shane Thatcher (pictured left) from starting Illumination Solar with a clear vision: “To eliminate the burning of kerosene as a fuel source in the developing world.”

Illumination isn’t focusing on the Australian market, but is instead turning to the developing world in order to make a change, being able to provide lights at such a low price due to carbon credits.

Thatcher’s goal is as much as philanthropic as it is commercial and he says the business has already been able to “change the lives of over two hundred thousand people and managed to feed ourselves in the process.”

There are significant problems in bringing solar to the developing world, however.

“Our markets and customers are geographically and culturally diverse,” he says.

“They often lack basic commercial infrastructure and it took some time to locate and develop reliable and trustworthy distribution partners.”

But he says by using a simple customer-focused design, the business has been able to produce a target price point that “makes an enormous difference to our customers’ lives.

“The market potential is absolutely enormous,” Thatcher says.

This article originally appeared on StartupSmart.