Everybody knows that feeling of trawling through a company’s one hundredth page of an Annual Report feeling bored and unengaged. 

SolarBuddy’s Founder and Global CEO, Simon Doble had experienced this too many times, and decided there was no need for this to be the case for SolarBuddy. That’s why in 2022, SolarBuddy has decided to bring you its Annual Report in a fresh, innovative way: through video format.  

In this video, hear about all the big and exciting SolarBuddy stories and updates from the year, directly from Simon and SolarBuddy’s Australian General Manager, Billie Murphy. Sit back, relax and enjoy this engaging and personable recount of the incredible year that was… 

Key Highlights & Timestamps: 

Our Expansion  

• 4:35: Simon Doble had the opportunity to visit the United Sates as part of the global expansion and plan to scale up SolarBuddy from a start-up to a larger charity. After locking in some important strategic partnerships, SolarBuddy should be running in 26 states across the U.S. as a registered 501C3 charity by the end of 2023. 

• 5:10: Simon Doble had the opportunity to continue this expansion into Europe thanks to the appointment of the passionate new CEO of the EMEA, Jeremie Landweer. SolarBuddy is officially a registered charity in Belgium and Holland, with The U.K., Germany, Switzerland and Denmark coming soon.  

Our Innovations  

• 7:05: Version two of JuniorBuddy was released. This version of the iconic, original solar light has been improved to be longer lasting, more waterproof, more robust to various conditions and has an illustrative character design on the front to be more child friendly.   

• 8:00: SolarBuddy’s second product to market, StudentBuddy, was officially launched. As a larger, more complex solution, this product can light up an entire 6mX6m room, lasts 100+ hours between charges and can charge 2 devices. It will predominantly be donated to young girls, who typically have to walk long distances to charge their families’ devices. It will improve their health and safety outcomes.  

• 10:07: SolarBuddy’s new innovation Klick was announced, which is coming soon. This product will convert kerosene lanterns into solar lanterns and is the first of its kind in the world. It will be donated in bulk to women so they can start their own solar entrepreneurial stores.  

• 12:44: SolarBuddy changed its constitution to allow the expansion into the retail market. This will mean SolarBuddy’s products can be sold to customers for their own individual use. In 2023 SolarBuddy is hoping to be in major retailers across Australia. All profits made will go towards illuminating the futures of children.  

Our Australian Team & Growth  

• 15:48: SolarBuddy saw growth in the Australian team with a number of new team members hired across the marketing, product development and partnerships space.  

• 17:42: SolarBuddy launched its Illuminating Communities program, focused on improving the issue of energy poverty for remote communities in Australia. Solar flood lighting was installed in big community spaces on the Torres Strait Islands and on Palm Island.  

• 19:09: SolarBuddy had a rebrand, focusing on the logo design to represent a person lifting another person. The SolarBuddy website was re-designed and re-launched.  

• 21:44: SolarBuddy redeveloped its school education program in line with the newly launched curriculum to be more curriculum aligned.  

• 21:54: SolarBuddy redeveloped the events program to be more hands-on and experiential, with a VR experience coming soon to the program.  

Simon and Billie’s 2022 Highlights  

• 26:20: Billie Murphy recounted her highlight of visiting Thursday Island, learning first-hand about how energy poverty affects school children in remote communities in Australia. She enjoyed the unique experience of helping these children learn about energy poverty but also learning herself.  

• 29:07: Simon Doble highlighted his experience working in the U.S and meeting incredible people to share the SolarBuddy story and mission with, including Malala Yousef.  

• 30:15: SolarBuddy submitted patent applications for its designs and innovations, which was a big and important step for a small charity to make.  

• 30:28: Simon recounted his proudest moment of the year as seeing Billie grow as a person and leader and successfully step into the role of General Manager.  

Thanks to every single person who has been involved with the SolarBuddy community, the goal of reaching and impacting the lives of 1 million people is almost hit. In 2023, with the new global expansion in full swing, the SolarBuddy team hopes to smash this goal completely and edge towards impacting 2 million people.  

At the end of the day, this Annual Report was produced for all the incredible donors, partners and wider SolarBuddy community to say thank you in a fun way and recount the biggest events from the year that have only been possible from this community support.   

It is due to this support, that SolarBuddy has been able to deliver well over 20,000 lights to children living in energy poverty around the world this year.