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Sollatek’s 40th Anniversary

The Sollatek Journey

In 2023, we are proud to celebrate 40 years since Sollatek was first established. The company was founded by electronics Professor Dr. Janan Allos in London, UK. Janan wanted to find a solution for the damage of electrical & electronics equipment from erratic power, a phenomena he experienced whilst living in Iraq. The outcome was his invention of the Automatic Voltage Switcher (AVS) for which he held the patent for 17 years.

When the company was first set up by Janan and his eldest son Manhal after their decision to leave a destabilised Iraq for the UK, it was quickly evident that the product would have tremendous appeal in developing countries due to their fluctuating electricity supply. Demand for the AVS grew hand-in-hand with the increased popularity of consumer electronics and household appliances, while power quality remained poor. And so, the concept of the LSC (Local Sollatek Company) was created. An LSC is a dedicated Local Sollatek operation that focuses on the distribution and after-sales support of Sollatek products in its own territory.

From the outset, the founders embarked on commercialising the AVS and finding partners in the African continent to build the LSC model, with Tanzania being the first country to adopt Sollatek. Soon after, entrepreneur & shipping expert, Chris Soper, impressed by what Sollatek could offer, established Sollatek Kenya (in 1986) , the largest LSC today. Several LSCs operate today (namely in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, India & USA) along with distributors in many other countries globally.

Continued Innovation

In 1987, Sollatek were approached by an environmentally conscious Coca-Cola (Kenya) engineer. The request was for Sollatek’s help to protect the compressors of Coca-Cola Beverage Coolers. Preventing damage to compressors not only increases the useful life of the compressor, but also prevents – as was the case at the time – the release of unwanted gases (CFCs and HFCs) from damaged compressors.

Sollatek provided an effective solution of in-built voltage protection that is used even today in hundreds of thousand of commercial coolers. And with this, Sollatek embarked on a journey of discoveries and vertical applications for the commercial cooler industry.

A few years on, Sollatek designed its first temperature controller (Electronic Thermostat) which then further propelled it into the exciting world of the Internet of Things (IoT). Connecting these coolers to the internet allow brand owners to receive Business Intelligent information that help them to manage and develop their businesses further.

The New Era

Sollatek currently manufactures no less than 30,000 devices per week in 3 factories in Thailand and Alexandria, Egypt and is widely acknowledged to be a global leader in Point of Sales connectivity for refrigerated FMCGs. Customers including AB Inbev, Coca-Cola, Costa Coffee, Danone, Ferrero, Heineken, Pepsi-Cola, Unilever & Vodafone.

Diversification and innovation have been a constant theme in Sollatek’s history. The knowledge and expertise in power control made Sollatek an expert in voltage stabilisation and soon after – in 1995 – a preferred supplier to the UK National Grid for grid strengthening programs in new and refurbished substations. In 2003 Sollatek began supplying the Off-shore windfarm industry with similar solutions. Today Sollatek is the number one manufacturer and supplier of Voltage Stabilisers for offshore windfarm projects with over 16,000 MWs of stabilised power supplied since.

In 2001 Sollatek became an authorised Supplier to UNICEF for the protection of Vaccine refrigerators against power problems. Over 150,000 stabilisers for the protection of Vaccine fridges have been supplied in the last 22 years. Over 20,000 during the pandemic to the roll out Covid-19 vaccines to help facilitate millions of vaccinations in the developing world.

40 years young, Sollatek is looking forward to the next chapters in its continued development and growing global reputation for Technology, Quality & Service.