Cost of oil could dim a solar light

Mark Bent wrestles with oil prices. Never mind that crude futures have fallen $20 a barrel from their record in July.

Bent’s company, Houston-based SunNight Solar, has seen costs for shipping its solar-powered flashlights rise by about 30 percent so far this year, and they show no sign of abating.
“It kills you,” Bent told me in an interview from Shanghai, China, where he’s overseeing the manufacture of the company’s newest model, the SL-2. “Pennies cost me.”

Like many small businesses in the U.S., SunNight finds itself caught between rising costs for everything from raw materials to shipping at the same time that a slowing global economy and reduced consumer spending threaten sales.

Last year, when shipping was less expensive, SunNight, which has four full-time employees, didn’t worry as much about the cost of sending its flashlights first to the U.S. and then to distributors around the world.

Now, the company’s constantly searching for the lowest costs for its shipping.

“As prices have gone up, I now have to have my people spend a lot more time finding the best deal,” he said. “It costs me a lot of management time.”

It’s also hurting sales because many of SunNight’s products are sold in emerging markets, where the slightest price increase can make them unaffordable. Bent has kept the price for SunNight’s lights at $25, despite the higher costs.

Houston Chronicle