Light Fantastic

Once upon a time, going green meant making sacrifices for the sake of the planet. Not any more. Meet Christopher Hornor, the man making renewable energy easier.

WORDS BY HELENKA BEDNAR

Christopher Hornor got his first taste of running a business at the tender age of 13. Setting up his own window cleaning company in his hometown in California soon stretched to employing four other staff, and before he knew it, the teenager was bitten by the business bug. His was not to be a prodigious career in window cleaning though, and by the time he reached high school he’d developed a taste for software technology and was carrying out consultancy work for a Japanese telecommunications company. The fascination with technology continued after high school and, in 1999 with the dot.com boom already underway in California, Hornor decided to cross the Atlantic and head for London where the internet explosion was yet to happen.

He was in the right place at the right time and held a series of high-level technical positions, latterly focusing on web-based supply chain systems. He was living the high life in London and carving out a successful career when 9/11 hit and the industry went into hibernation. It was time for a rethink, but rather than reeling at the thought of a career change, Hornor seized the opportunity to rekindle the entrepreneurial flame and start up his own business: “I wasn’t particularly interested in staying in the software business and I’ve always been fascinated with renewable energy,” he says. “It was time for a career move and renewable energy was something that really spoke to me in a big way, both from a financial and economic point of view.”

Hornor set up Better Energy Systems (BES) in January 2001 with a combination of personal and private investment and a very focused vision. “The concept was pretty simple,” he explains. “How can we take renewable energy that is everywhere, harness it in a product that is palatable in the mass consumer marketplace, and create a grass roots approach to a brand new category of product that would actually change people’s perception of renewable energy and take it out of the “techy” bracket and into the “lifestyle” bracket?”

The resulting product was Solio, a hybrid energy storage device that could be charged by solar energy or mains electricity to power any hand held device at home, at work or on the move. Importantly for the business plan though, the concept wasn’t just about an obsession with renewable energy. People rely on their mobile phones, PDAs, MP3 players and digital cameras more than ever before and all are prone to running out of battery power at inopportune moments, convincing Hornor that he had spotted a definite gap in the market. There were other solar powered chargers commercially available, but they were largely unreliable and lacked intelligent design.

Initially, Hornor partnered with a US-based company to start up the production process for Solio, but a restructure meant they had to drop out of the project, leaving him to face the huge challenge of manufacturing the chargers without the backup of a billion dollar company. “I ended up having to figure out how to build a product in China and how to outsource the engineering,” he says. “We had a designer in-house and we started doing all the product development and product marketing. It was just a long process of trial and error trying to tweak it to make it work really well.”

These early days of research and design were fraught with worry for a man striking out with the immodest aim of redefining the renewable energy market. But when the Solio launched in the UK, in November 2004, its combination of smart design and eco-friendly aspirations proved a winner. When it exhibited at the MacWorld Expo it sold 200 units, making it the top selling product at the show, and by the end of 2005 Solio had launched in Europe, the US, Australia and Japan, helping BES to pass its first revenue milestone of £1m (¤1.4m) in sales during its first year of trading. BES had also signed a global distribution agreement with Apple, and secured co-branding deals with clients such as Vodafone, Quicksilver and Toyota.

“To get the biggest companies on the planet to endorse what you’re doing you have to go with the flow and develop products that make sense, that are innovative, distinctive and right for the market,” says Hornor. “We’ve been able to show companies like Apple that they can sell something that’s cool, and it can make them and us money, and provide real benefit to the consumer and the environment in the process. Historically, renewable energy products have meant that consumers have had to make sacrifices. We wanted to show them that they don’t have to.”

Hornor is keen to strike a similar balance in the way BES operates as a company. The company recycles and uses solar powered lighting, but it has decided not to be carbon neutral because at the moment the costs involved simply would not be economically viable: “There’s been a real shift in people’s thinking when it comes to the importance of sustainability and renewable energy,” he says. “It’s also very important to us that it’s sustainable from a business perspective.” At every point, BES strives to be environmentally friendly, but never to the detriment of the business.

With the success of Solio under its belt, BES has this year launched Tread, a range of mobile cases, laptop bags and luggage handmade from recycled Columbian truck tyres. The cases are produced in Bogotá by a small, family-run business whose production has increased by 1,000% since they started manufacturing the Tread range. Meanwhile, Hornor has poured money back into the community by recruiting local labour to meet production demands.

Next up is the Million Points of Light project, which Hornor is hoping to start in Africa, in conjunction with corporate partners. The initiative will use new lighting technology in conjunction with Solio to provide light for people in rural Africa with no electricity supply, further demonstrating the key to Solio’s success. In one product Hornor has managed to create a piece of technology used by office workers in London, scientists in the Antarctic, the Red Cross in America and soon villagers in Africa.

With such global appeal what does Hornor see as the future for renewable energy? “It is the future,” he replies. “Everything’s going to be this way. It just so happens that we’re a company that entered this space first, and we have the best product.”

FIVE THINGS I WISH I’D KNOWN BEFORE I STARTED:

1. The length of time and resources it actually takes to bring a consumer electronic product to the global marketplace.
2. The hidden operational costs and the cultural challenges associated with dealing with overseas suppliers.
3. How much of my personal life and time would be sacrificed to balance business obligations, and how to manage these expectations on both ends.
4. The importance of crystal clear briefs when dealing with outside contractors.
5. The true costs associated with venture and human capital.