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A solar sauna is more than a sauna that works with sunlight. In this – What is Solar Sauna- article, I will tell you what a solar sauna is, how it works, who are behind this idea and where this sauna is actually located.

Swiss Alps

The solar sauna is located in the Swiss Alps on the top of a mountain called Heuberge, about 2000 meters above sea level. The Arflina Hotel and mountain center in Heuberge has been run by Henrik Vetsch and Sara Wiesendanger for ten years already. Henrik’s mother is a Finn and his father is Swiss. Henrik speaks fluent Finnish, so you can do business in this language when you go there.

The solar sauna has been born out of innovation as Swiss tourism companies are thinking how to develop tourism also in summer. Sustainable development and environmental friendliness have become an important part of the tourism and well-being sector.

The Heuberge mountain resort is located in a protected area and for example snow throwers are not allowed. Thus, in the summer the slopes look like there were no slopes, so natural do they look. This if anything is sustainable development, everything is not destroyed just to get snow on the slopes.

In winter, the mountain resort is at the mercy of conditions when it comes to customers and the amount of snow. Nothing can be predicted in advance.

In Heuberge it is possible to do downhill skiing, sledding (12km), and snowshoeing in winter. In summer, you can hike, explore nature on a guided tour, go down with bike boards, do mountain biking, take a sauna, or just enjoy the alpine atmosphere.

In summer, the meadows are mowed only every two years and that can be seen in the number of special plants. In the mountains there are countless plants that were foreign to me.

Get to know: Heuberge

What is solar sauna

The solar sauna or Lytefire sauna works, as its name implies, by sun. However, not with an electricity-generating solar panel, but the sauna is heated directly by the rays of sunlight. Sounds simple and that’s what it actually is.

It is a true miracle that this has not been invented before. Well, in Finland that is partly explained by the fact that it is mostly dark in winter. In summer, however, the sun can be utilized.

The first prototype of the solar sauna has been built in the Swiss Alps at 2000 meters. Inside the sauna there are two benches, a floor plan, stove plates and stones. The sauna is built on a movable wooden part, it is possible to rotate the sauna around the axis.

How does solar sauna work

In all sacred simplicity, the mirrors are directed so that the sun’s rays hit them directly. With mirrors the rays are directed to a heating window in the wall of the sauna, which is lined with glass. Behind the heating window is the sauna hearth, where the sun’s rays enter and heat the panels/stones of the sauna heater.

In the sauna, panels made of steel work as the heater. The panels partially warm up really hot and it is possible to throw water into them. In this way, steam and heat enter the sauna. The first prototype has slightly below 4 square meters of mirrors and they can be used to heat the sauna to 60 degrees Celsius in 45 minutes.

The next version has 7 square meters of mirrors and it surely makes the sauna and stones much hotter.

The wood material used is spruce and the sauna measures 1.6 meters x 1.76 meters. The panels of the heater are made of steel, which has been treated with black refractory paint.

Sorry, only in Finnish

Heating up the sauna

The sauna is heated up through mirrors. The sun is moving, so someone needs to be moving the mirrors so that the sun’s rays hit the sauna heating window all the time.

You might be thinking: damn what a work. Well, it’s not much of a work. Think about how you must add wood to the wood stove, not to mention heating the smoke sauna. Plus that this way nothing extra goes to the sky. Sun rays are the only particles that move with this sauna heating. And they are much healthier than small particles.

We did a simple test in which a piece of wood was exposed to the sun’s rays. It took about a minute for the wood to start burning. There is power in the sun’s rays. It has been measured that the sun’s rays produce 600 ° C of heat at this point.

Therefore, even in this sauna heating the sauna master should be nearby.

The company behind solar sauna

Behind this awesome innovation is an awesome bunch of people basically around the world who think about environmental issues and especially poor countries. The right kind of people have met each other and got a great idea and worked for it.

The company name is Solar Fire Concentration and Lytefire (read: lightfire) is the name of the technology used. They have been working for many years, especially in developing countries. They have had projects around the world such as Brazil, Africa, France, the Philippines and Haiti. In these countries their main products have been ovens, roasters and dryers operating with concentrated sunlight.

The roaster can be used to roast coffee beans, seeds, nuts, etc. In the ovens you can bake pizza, bread, cakes, but you can also make food.

The idea of Solar Fire Concentration is to get solar-powered equipment especially to third countries, i.e. low-income countries. In these countries people are poor and electricity is not always available. The sun typically shines in these countries for 8 months if not more, so solar powered devices are really profitable there.

Read more: Lytefire Sauna

Personal experience

I got to test the sauna in mid-July. The sauna on Mount Heuberge in Switzerland is a prototype, so little development was still in the air. I was surprised at how quickly the sun’s rays produced so much heat that the sauna warmed up.

The sauna was only a little warm when we went inside. Heat and steam were generated in the sauna when the steel plates were sprayed with water bottles. There was no kit and bucket yet.

Surprisingly good steam came out of the small steel plates and the heat began to rise.

Urs Riggenbach built the first test version in February and the results were good. Enthusiastic of this, an improved version was built, which I now got to test.

The sauna is good as it can be rotated about its central axis. This ensures that the sun’s rays hit the mirrors and thus the heating window all the time.

The sauna has a large panoramic window, as well as the possibility to change the location of the stove on three sides. There is also becoming an option for a wood-burning stove to the sauna. We shall certainly hear about this later.

The solar sauna is much more than just a sauna

The advantages of a solar sauna

Does not produce carbon dioxide when heated by the sun
Does not produce unhealthy particles or PAHs
Locally produced and / or recycled materials are used in the manufacture
Can be used anywhere, not dependent on the availability of any fuel or electricity
Movable
Easily adaptable

The disadvantages of a solar sauna

Big size, you need a lot of space
The sauna does not heat up unless the sun is shining
No fire-setting process for the stove, which many find pleasing

I really hope this what is Solar Sauna article was helpful to you. Especially when you think of the most ecological option. More solar saunas are coming, so stay tuned.

More information: Lytefire Sauna

The article – What is Solar Sauna- has been made in collaboration with the Solar Fire / GoSol team and the Heuberge mountain resort. I got an overnight stay at the hotel and visit the solar sauna in exchange of this article.