/ Past Coverage
Selection from more than 50 articles
Canal +
2013
SourdOreille
2013
We Demain
2013
Technoparade
2014
Telerama
2015
Qwartz
2015
Trax Mag
2015
Grazia
2015
Vice
2017
Financial Times
2017
EJInsight
2018
ISRAEL21c
2018
/ Fact Sheet
Established: 1999
Entertainment / Education / Renewable Energies
Locations :
Lausanne, Paris, Biarritz, Berlin, Marseille, Tel-Aviv, Hong-Kong
Key Metrics
Fun
Interactive
Innovative
Creative
Educational
Societal
Eco-Friendly
Milestones
Launched Lausanne : June 1999
Launched Paris : 2000
Launched Marseille : 2005
Launched Berlin : 2017
Launched Biarritz : 2017
Launched Tel-Aviv : 2017
Launched Hong-Kong : 2018
Presence
- Music Festival
- COPs (21,22,23 …)
- Public Parks
- Malls and Museums
- Talks and Conferences
- Local and International
- Schools
- Cocktail Parties
- Brand Activation
- Team Building operations
Notable achievements
Awards & Conferences
- Polytechnico, Milan (2002)
- Recognized by Unesco as : Activity of the decade for education towards sustainable development (2004 – 2014)
- Europeean program on Energy, FEEDU,
- Lubjana, Slovenia (2007)
- Shristi School, Bengalore (2012)
- Tech 4 dev, UNESCO chair, EPFL Lausanne (2013)
- EE Music Europe Awards 2015
- Labelled COP21 (2015)
- Invited by the MIT at “Future Energy Summit” (2017)
- Conference : Ted X Lille (2015)
- Conference : COP23, “Innovation and collective imagination: (2017)
- Conference : “Open field art and sciences festival”, Riga (2016)
- Conference : Cadiayyad University, Marrakech (2016)
- Labelled Solar Impulse (2020)
Artists Collaborations
- Matt Black (Coldcut / Ninja Tunes)
- Boris ( Panorama Bar )
- Dj Yellow
- Alek Lee
- Qzen
- Civil Civic
- Kolkoz
- Tomás Saraceno
- Vlad Bretan
- Jay Ka
Dates and Festivals
- Art Basel (2009)
- Montreux Jazz Festival
- SAY WATT ? Sound System exhibition in Paris (2013)
- Nuits sonores
- Techno Parade
- Space to Breathe, London
- Institut du monde arabe
- Élysée
- Art Basel Miami (2018)
/ NGO Backgrounder
OVERVIEW
Solar Sound System offers sound systems powered by the sun and bicycles for events, as well as an educative tool to introduce sustainability to the public. Thanks to its design, participants can enjoy music with 100% renewable energy generated speakers, turntables, and sound mixers. The community gets the opportunity to see solar panels working first hand and to participate in the production of electricity through bicycle power.
Since 2016, Solar Sound System also has their own solar powered radio station, Radio3S.org. Online 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, the station broadcasts events, shows and documentaries, running solely on solar energy.
OUR VISION
With 7 active branches in Lausanne, Paris, Marseille, Berlin, Biarritz, Hong-Kong and Tel-Aviv, and more than 600 events, the organisation aims to teach the public about the ease of renewable energy use, and to inspire them to take steps to lower their reliance on fossil fuels.
The organization aims to expand worldwide based on a franchise model. Potential managers can fill a form at this address : bit.ly/OpenSolarAntenna
SolarSoundSystem is keen in spreading it’s original values of ecology, culture and professionalism everywhere it’s active.
GAINSPAN MARKETS
- Public Events : Music Festival, Public Parks, Schools
- Private Events : Cocktail Parties, Malls and Museums, Brand Activation, Team Building operations
- Governments : COPs (21,22,23 …)
- Institutions : Local and International, Talks and Conferences
- Non-Profits : Street Parties, Positive social actions
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- HEADQUARTERS: 236, rue de Paris 93100 Montreuil, France
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- SPONSORS: Fondation Schneider Electric , Enercoop
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- PARTNERSHIPS: Lemonaid/Charitea, Native Instrument, Frog-Is
EXECUTIVE TEAM
Cédric Carles, Founder, Operations, manager Paris branch, Business Development, Engineering, manager Station-E.
Thomas Ortiz, Co-Founder, Business Development, Engineering, Operations
Rubens Ben, Co-Founder, Communication, Business Development, Radio Manager, Operations, Manager Tel-Aviv branch.
Laure Schwarz, Manager Lausanne branch.
Francois Dutron, Manager Basque-Country branch.
Aymeric Vollant, Manager Hong-Long branch.
Julien Destrade, Manager Berlin branch.
Loïc Rogard, Manager Marseille branch.
/ Executive Bios
Franco-Swiss designer and researcher, Cédric currently runs Atelier 21 as well as the Station-E cultural space based in Paris and Montreuil.
As a trans-disciplinary inventor, Cédric Carles gives a festive, playful and responsible impulse to the projects he develops.
Since the creation of the Solar Sound System in 1999, Cédric Carles has put design at the service of the awareness of social and ecological issues of innovation.
Its projects and actions are part of a global reflection of the city of tomorrow, our lifestyles, as well as their energetic and ecological impacts.
Creator of the design studio “Atelier 2cé” in Lausanne since 2004 and “Atelier21” in Paris in 2011, he regularly collaborates with private and institutional actors to imagine, design and implement creative and original goods and services.
Through each of the projects he promotes, Cédric Carles gives a pedagogical and human dimension to research and development. A real “connector” of the academic and empirical worlds, that creates a link beyond physical and social boundaries with one mission: to accompany the ecological transition by giving full meaning to “living together”.
Thomas Ortiz is an artist and engineer born in 1988 and living and working now in Kyoto, Japan. His work focuses on the issues concerning energy, environment and human lifestyles. in 2012, he graduated from the “Institut National Polytechnique” following an Art and Science Program.
Passionate with the energy and up cycling issues, he co-founded in 2014 Matabase to develop the use of innovative and sustainable materials in creative communities. Since 2015, he is leading several actions with Atelier21, a think tank focusing on energy transition through social innovation.
He soon became an active part of the crew, working as project manager of Solar Sound System, an international network of sound systems powered by solar and human energy.
In the same year, he worked as an independent researcher on the 2 year program “Smart Grids Brain”. This research explored the current development of energy and telecommunication networks with a citizen-oriented point of view.
He is the co-founder of Paléo-énergétique, a collaborative international research program investigating the past to exhumate forgotten innovations and patents in the public domain.
In 2016, he developed RegenBox in collaboration with the designer Cédric Carles, the first open-source alkaline battery regenerator.
Born in 1986 in France and living in Tel-Aviv, Israel, Rubens is a photographer, website developer, DJ, and has been part of the Solar Sound System core team since 2014.
Having studied a BA of communication in 2011 at the IDC Herzliya, Rubens is an active part of the Solar Sound System development. First, by updating it’s visual identity (logos and graphical elements), then, by developing it’s websites and ecosystem. He also takes care of the communication side (social networks and newsletters).
in 2016, he co-launched Radio3S, the official Solar Sound System radio, that he manages today as a program-manager.
In 2017, he inaugurated the Tel-Aviv branch of the SolarSoundsystem, that he has built and manages since then.
On the music side, Rubens is also DJing under the alias of “Ben Ur”. As a photographer, he has been working for festivals or venues and such as “Monticule Festival”, “Pitchfork Paris Festival”, “Dimensions” and “Nuits Fauves”.
More : RubensBen.com
/ Quote Sheet
you guys have a perfect set up, great stuff ! People pedal, the music keeps playing
Incroyable, extraordinaire
The Solar Sound Project is a deceptively simple use of technology to integrate into the art and culture of ordinary people, in lands where modern technology’s impact is largely indirect. It will provide a bridge for artists, for whom circumstance has them on the deprived side of the economic and digital divides, to explore the opportunities of new media from their traditional strongholds.
This invention is so incredible that it brings tears to my eyes
An invention absolutely essential to your summer and spring evenings
its unique position between practicality and design, between social message and entertainment will no doubt ensure its success in the future
/ Frequently Asked Questions
Autonomy, how long the machine can operate ?
- With Full Sun and/or people cycling : Unlimited
- With Partial Sun / Clouds :
- Without bicycles : 5 Hours
- With bicycles : 6 to 8 Hours
- With Full Clouds / Rain :
- Without bicycles : 2 hours
- With bicycles : 4 to 8 hours
- When no sun and no bicycles, the machines have an autonomy of 4 hours.
Does it fits for bands, and other performances ?
For sure, our machines are built for any type of events that need amplification : Dj, concerts, conferences, yoga, sound healing, workshops and more.
What’s the ecological impact of the solar panels ?
All electronic equipment can cause these concerns, and whereas many electrical goods are only designed to last for a couple of years,
PV panels are expected to last for at least 30 years.
Furthermore, PV panels are used in place of other sources of electricity which have a much greater environmental impact per unit of electricity generated.
The main component of most PV modules is silicon, which isn’t intrinsically harmful, but parts of the manufacturing process do involve toxic chemicals and these need to be carefully controlled and regulated to prevent environmental damage.
If you pedal faster, does it make the system louder ?
No, even if we have done that in the past, and that it was entertaining and fun, we are hosting renowned Dj’s and artists with the aim to demonstrate that renewable energies are reliable and can substitute to our energy needs.
Do you have any other activities aside SolarSoundSystem ?
Yes, one of our slogans is “Dance for the Planet”. SolarSoundSystem is a creation of Atelier21.org, a think-tank leading other projects related to energy, such as RegenBox or Paleo-Energetique. Thanks to the SolarSoundSystem rentals, we can finance research.
/ Hi-Res Images
Click on the image to download high res press photos or download the package below
/ Audio
/ Videos
/ Logos
Click on the image to download logos or download the package below
/ Social Networks
Facebook : 11213 Followers
Paris : 5160
Lausanne : 553
Berlin : 852
Basque Country : 1262
Hong-Kong : 733
Tel Aviv : 1446
Marseille : 852
Radio 3S : 1050
Instagram : followers
Twitter : 800 followers
Youtube : 80 subscribers
Mixloud : 267 followers
Soundcloud : 290 followers
Newsletter : 10 000 contacts
/ Contact
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Website : SolarSoundSystem.org
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Email : press@solarsoundsytem.org
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HQ postal Address : 236, rue de Paris, 93100 Montreuil, France
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Cedric : +33 6 48 25 18 56
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Thomas : +33 6 68 12 29 41
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Rubens : +972 5 85 68 43 55