We are proud to announce that Time Magazine has named Sun King in its TIME100 Most Influential Companies and the TIME100 Companies Impact Award for Sustainability for 2026.  This recognition places us amongst 100 organisations shaping the future of the world. Read the full TIME100 feature here.

What This Recognition Means

TIME selects its 100 Most Influential Companies based on impact, innovation, ambition, and success. Over the past twelve months, Sun King has released a new generation of solar lanterns, solar home systems, and solar inverter systems. Each of these product categories is keyed to different affordability and energy needs, and each offers ever more power and functionality at an ever more affordable price point. Alongside this, Sun King has released ambitious plans to scale up its deployment of solar kits from approximately 350,000 solar kits every month to one million solar kits every month by 2030.

“Being named to this list and receiving the Sustainability Impact Award reflects something that we have always believed: that delivering clean, affordable solar energy to underserved communities is not just good for people, it is good business, good for the planet, and a model worth following.” T. Patrick Walsh, Co-Founder and CEO, Sun King.

Our Impact, in Numbers

Why TIME Chose Sun King

TIME Magazine recognised Sun King’s unique set of capabilities. The listing recognised Sun King’s diverse set of solar products that meet the needs of underserved consumers. In 2025, Sun King released a range of new products to provide families and businesses living with no or unreliable access to electricity with solutions that meet their specific needs. In October 2025, we opened our first large-scale African manufacturing facility  in Tatu City, Kenya. In early 2026, we announced a $150 million commitment to bring solar power to Ethiopia by 2030.

TIME spotlighted Sun King’s smart financing, which allows customers to pay in small installments over time for solar, breaking down stubborn affordability barriers. To date, Sun King has deployed 1.7 billion in solar loans to over 12 million individual customers. In July 2025, we closed a $156 million Kenyan-shilling securitisation with Citigroup — the largest fully local-currency securitisation of any kind in sub-Saharan Africa outside South Africa.

Finally, the award highlighted the role Sun King is playing in creating employment across the continent. Today, Sun King has 41,000 agents selling, servicing, and installing solar in their own communities and 4,000 staff working in engineering, operations, finance, and beyond. 99% of all positions are African. 

These milestones are the result of thousands of people working, every day, to deliver on our mission: powering access to brighter lives.

“Energy poverty isn’t an abstract statistic — it shapes every corner of daily life, from the student studying by candlelight to the entrepreneur who can’t keep a phone charged. Hundreds of millions of people across Africa are still living that reality today. This TIME recognition belongs to every member of our staff, our partners, and our supporters working tirelessly to change it. Together, we’re not just powering homes — we’re powering futures, and we’re only just getting started.” Anish Thakkar, Co-Founder, Sun King.

What Is Next

Our ambition does not stop here. Sun King is committed to deploying 50 million additional solar kits across Africa and Asia by 2030, reaching 200 million people and deploying 3.8 GW of new decentralised solar capacity. We will continue to open new markets, launch new products, and build the manufacturing and financing infrastructure Africa needs — an international effort, rooted in Africa, and, increasingly, built by Africans.

This award affirms that the world is watching, and that what we are doing matters. Thank you for being part of it.

Read the full TIME100 feature here.