SunFactory Project Design Office is the design office of Sun Factory Project: it designs, calculates, prototypes and documents solar technologies. It continuously carries out the research, creation and dissemination of solar commons — those that make up the technology portfolio of Sun Factory Project.
A node, not a centre: a solar research and science office that generates solar commons and connects them to the SunFactory Labs and to the network's FabLabs.
Its primary function: research. Energy calculations, 3D modelling, prototypes and empirical solar knowledge, drawn from 15 years of testing in the sun, become open source solar commons: articles and plans under CC BY-SA 4.0, code under AGPL-3.0, hardware under CERN-OHL-S and data under ODbL.
Share know-how and train local actors so they can use the technologies developed on their own.
People and organisations who design, develop, fund and document the portfolio's solar machines.
2026 – 2028
Five contributions to start with: four entrusted to open source contributors under annual mandates, and handling, entrusted to local citizens. This is only a foundation. Solar energy touches a multitude of fields (cooking, food, recycling, water, construction, agriculture, mobility…) and every new object or machine in the portfolio calls for new skills. Contributions are therefore set to multiply: they remain open to every field that solar energy can transform.
Coordinates the Design Office and leads mechanical engineering and energy calculations: sizing, design, prototypes, proofs of concept and documentation of solar machines.
Designs the new hardware elements of Sun Factory Project: objects, moulds, ergonomics and finishes of the machines.
Handles the Design Office's IT: AI dissemination tools (agents, bot), tools for harnessing the sun and for promoting the project.
Makes the Design Office known: communication, marketing, presenting the portfolio to institutions facing a challenge, sales and training or development partnerships.
Profile sought: a communication and marketing profile, able to tell the portfolio's story and link it to the concrete challenges of institutions, NGOs and companies.
Prepares materials, assembles and builds the solar kits, and handles other handling operations.
Paid local missions, through the contributory income ↗: a supplementary income in exchange for an engaging, structuring and formative activity serving the local area and the commons.
Citizen missions
The Design Office calls on citizens for simple handling missions: building kits and other operations.
Missions are primarily aimed at people who need them, close to where the work takes place.
Handling, preparing materials, assembling and packaging solar kits.
Each mission is paid 30 CHF per hour, and is a way to discover solar technologies by building them.
Wider network
The Design Office relies on a network of actors involved since the project's beginnings.
At the origin of the project: solar bakery in Ouagadougou (2011), volks.eco solar research and studies (2012), first plastic melting and extrusion in the sun (2020); has led the project under the Antenna Foundation since 2023; residencies for ESELx students.
Co-inventor of the solar plastic recycling and injection process; has shared his technical expertise since 2020.
Professor at ESELx: organises the residencies with students, provides the production machines and the teaching venue in Lisbon. More info ↗
The Antenna Foundation is the project's legal host and keeps its knowledge open, with an international vision.
Visual identity and IT tools for setting up and publishing Sun Factory Project.
Reproduce the machines in Aveiro and in 2021 inject the world's first solar-powered sunglasses; adopt the name « Sun Factory » in 2022.
Solar plastic recycling kit, replicable FabLab version: solar concentrator (Emanuele Ceridono) and manual injector (Federico Guizzo); solar-recycled plastic objects (Maria Monica Cabarcas Granados), open source knowledge infrastructure (Sara Proietti) and communication strategy (Andrea Tessitore). More info ↗
Milestones
The contributors' knowledge and experience date back to 2011; Sun Factory Project took its name in 2022.
Solar bakery in Wemtenga (Burkina Faso), with William Illboudo: Seed Award 2011.
Marco Bernardo founds volks.eco in Geneva, begins documenting his solar thermal research and joins Solemyo (cuisinesolaire.com).
First successful plastic melting in the sun; partnership with PlastOK for a portable injection system.
World's first sunglasses injected with solar energy, with Liquen Eyewear and Recua_ (Aveiro).
The name « Sun Factory » is adopted; meeting with André Rocha (FabLab Benfica) at the Gliding Barnacles festival.
Award at Maker Faire Lisboa; the Antenna Foundation becomes the host organisation; first residencies at FabLab Benfica.
Equipping the SunFactory Lab at Maison Antenna (Lancy, Geneva); proof of concept of solar-thermal puffed cereals.
International residency in Lisbon with IPL, the University of Turin and the Antenna Foundation; proofs of concept of solar-recycled plastic bars and sheets; meeting of the Design Office contributors.
