Manufacturer · Denmark · Kolding · est. 1919
Nordisk Solar
Nordisk Solar (Nordisk Solar Compagni, est. 1919) – Danish electrical engineering company from Kolding, lamp manufacturer in 1950–1998, now Solar.
About the manufacturer
- Years active
- est. 1919
- Country
- Denmark
- Location
- Kolding
Nordisk Solar Compagni was founded in Kolding on 17 May 1919 by Jacob Jørgensen and Herluf Sørensen. The company began by selling electricity meters and wholesaling installation materials; in its first decades it also produced meters, light bulbs (1931–1946), radio sets and lamps. It has been listed on the stock exchange since 1953, was called Aktieselskabet Nordisk Solar until 2006, and now operates as Solar, based in Vejen.
Lighting was developed by the subsidiary Audiola, which ended its production of radios and gramophones in the 1950s. In 1949, the architect Jørn Utzon was commissioned to design the “Tivoli” lamp. Acton Bjørn, Sigvard Bernadotte, Max Brüel and Jørgen Høj also designed for the lighting programme, while the company’s staff architect was Sven Middelboe, the designer of the “Verona” lamp. Glass shades were supplied by the Swedish glassworks Flygfors. After the Hanover Fair in 1956, the company signed export agreements with the USA, Canada and Japan, and in 1957 it published its first catalogue, “Solar Fittings”.
In 1964, a lighting factory was opened in Glostrup; the plants in Kolding and Glostrup employed around 900 people in total. In 1968, lighting was separated as Solar Fittings Production, and between 1972 and 1979 production was moved to Vejen. The company ended its own lighting production in 1998.
