As part of the FW Thorpe Group, with its technically sophisticated facilities in the UK, Solite designs and manufactures a comprehensive range of professional lighting and control systems, including energy-efficient solutions. When choosing Solite for clean area, healthcare, industrial and hazardous area applications, you can be confident of receiving:

Professional, competent advice from a long-established UK company
A choice of lighting and control systems subject to stringent quality control (BS EN ISO 9001:2015)
Excellent customer service and a 5-year warranty*

Solite, for nearly 50 years, has manufactured increasingly sophisticated luminaires from its factory in the Manchester area. Over the last 20 years, the company has focused on high technology, highly specialised products for clean area and healthcare environments.

Solite luminaires are subject to stringent quality control, as demonstrated by the company’s BS EN ISO 9001:2015 (Quality management systems) accreditation. Additionally, accreditation of our sister company Thorlux to BS EN ISO 14001:2015 (Environmental management systems) gives the customer assurance that the company manufactures its LED and control systems in the most environmentally friendly manner.

* For all goods delivered from January 1st 2013 onwards.

Solite Europe Ltd, a subsidiary of FW Thorpe Plc, is proud that around 97% of its products are manufactured in the UK.

The FW Thorpe Group employs over 700 people. In 2016/17, the Group paid over £15 million in tax to the UK government - an amount which supports UK local authorities and jobs within them.

By manufacturing in the UK, Solite can meet urgent customer demands without the need to transport products by air to the UK, which would involve additional financial and environmental costs.

Solite designs and manufactures its luminaires to the highest standards, ensuring optimal performance and reliability. All Solite LED and conventional luminaires delivered after the 1st January 2013 are covered by a 5 year warranty (excluding lamps and batteries).
Customers can therefore purchase Solite luminaires with even more confidence.

A long and stable history reassures Solite customers that its warranty is meaningful. Many companies offer a pre-sale warranty, but post-sale claims require that the company is still trading.

See terms and conditions for full details.

Solite Warranty

Carbon Offsetting

Solite is committed to minimising the environmental impact of both its manufacturing processes and its products. However, even with the most responsible approach, some carbon dioxide (CO₂) will be released into the atmosphere as an indirect result of factory and selling activities and customers’ use of luminaires.

In 2009, FW Thorpe established an ambitious carbon-offsetting scheme to help compensate for these emissions. The Group has chosen to plant trees. Why trees? Trees and other plants absorb CO₂ during photosynthesis. One tree grown to maturity in open space can absorb approximately 1 tonne of CO₂ over its lifetime. A forest covering many acres can effectively lock up CO₂, creating a ‘carbon sink’.

The scheme is now accredited under the Woodland Carbon Code. On its own land in Monmouthshire, Wales, Thorlux has to date planted 165,687 trees (Spring 2022)

Visit the Carbon Offsetting page

Latest LED Technology

Solite is able to exploit recent advances in LED technology to help meet customer demand for energy-efficient solutions.
The Group’s considerable technical expertise and its ability to invest position it to maximise the opportunities offered by LED technology.

Backed by the Group’s modern facilities at sister company Thorlux Lighting, designers and developers have worked over recent years to create LED luminaires to meet customers’ operational and aesthetic requirements.
Thorlux has made a huge investment in LED technology, including in circuit-board design, software development, thermal modelling and optical lens design.

To increase the range and performance of its LED luminaires, Thorlux designs dedicated LED solutions from scratch, to optimise optical and thermal performance, and adapts existing conventional products to offer an LED option.

Unlike a traditional light source, a bare LED is a very intense point-source of light which has high glare and emits light in one direction only; therefore optical design is very important. Solite takes different approaches to optical design, according to the desired outcome:

LEDs, as with lamps, can sit behind a controller or diffuser which will help to spread the light over a wider area, providing a uniform light.
Having multiple LEDs on a luminaire provides the option of having individual optics for each LED.

Almost all Solite LED products benefit from bespoke LED printed circuit boards (PCBs) designed by the Thorlux electronics team. These PCBs ensure that Solite luminaires deliver maximum performance.

Thorlux Product Testing

Rigorous product testing is essential in maintaining a reputation for reliability and quality.

The Thorlux third-party accredited photometric laboratory enables the company to obtain the best optical performance from its luminaires. In addition, customers can be sure that photometric data provided by Thorlux is accurate.

In the photometric test laboratory, a sophisticated goniophotometer gives fast and reliable measurements of the light distribution from luminaires. An integrating sphere equipped with spectral analyser accurately measures light quality, efficiency and colour temperature.

Other in-house testing covers environmental and electrical parameters including extreme ambient temperatures, dust/water ingress, electromagnetic compatibility and current harmonics, in accordance with relevant European standards.

All test equipment is subject to regular in-house maintenance and calibration, with external third party calibration at regular intervals to ensure accuracy of data.

Solite Company Accreditation

Solite products are manufactured to the most stringent quality control standards in the most environmentally friendly manner.

Certificates of Conformity are available stating that Solite luminaires have been tested to and comply with the relevant international standards for the manufacture and testing of luminaires and related products. The standards used are:

BS EN IEC 55015:2019+A11:2020	RFI
EN 61547:2009	Immunity
BS EN IEC 61000-3-2:2019+A1:2021	Harmonics
BS EN 61000-3-3:2013+A1:2019	EMC. Limitation of voltage changes, voltage fluctuations and flicker in public low-voltage supply systems
BS EN IEC 60598-1:2021	Luminaires: General requirements and tests
EN 60598-2-1:1989	Fixed general purpose luminaires
BS EN 60598-2-22:2014	Emergency luminaires
IESNA LM80-08	LED lumen maintenance
IESNA TM-21-11	LED lifetime projections
BS 2782-0:2011	Methods of testing plastic
BS EN 60695-2-11:2014	Fire hazard testing. Glowing/hot-wire based test methods. Glow-wire flammability test method for end-products (GWEPT)
BS EN 62471:2008	Photobiological safety of lamps and lamp systems

Each certificate also confirms that products are manufactured to an approved ISO 9001 quality system, and that products are fully tested before despatch. Tests include those for safety earth circuit continuity, high voltage electrical strength, full circuit functionality including dimming, and current drawn. Specialist in-house protection circuitry is employed to prevent damage to equipment under test conditions.

Solite is certified to ISO 9001, coupled with the in-house testing to BS standards, are clear statements that the Group cares about the quality of its products and about the environment.

How to specify your lighting supplier:

The supplier shall have ISO 9001 (Quality) independent assessment and certification.
The LED platform supplier shall be responsible for its environmental activities and demonstrate genuine concern.
The supplier shall provide Certificates of Conformity demonstrating compliance with European legislation directives 2006/95/EC, 2004/108/EC and 2011/65/EU.
Photometric test information shall be available from equipment which is independently assessed.
The supplier shall offer a commissioning service, provided by its own trained technicians. A commissioning certificate shall be provided.
All products will be fully tested before dispatch to include safety earth circuit continuity, high voltage electrical strength testing, full circuit functionality including dimming, and checks on current drawn.
Products and services shall be backed by a comprehensive 5-year warranty – the supplier will have an established history and track record.

Technical Support

The Solite Technical Team is ready to answer all queries regarding Solite products and the use of these products in specific environments.

The company also offers a professional on-site commissioning service to ensure that products are configured to provide the desired performance and return on investment. For this service, the FW Thorpe Group employs its own fully trained personnel.

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