Solar Electric Light Fund
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| Motto | Energy is a Human Right |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1990 |
| Founder | Neville Williams |
| Location |
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Area served
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Global |
| Services | solar electrification, carbon offsets |
| Fields | international development, health, education, agriculture, renewable energy |
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Key people
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Executive Director: Freeman J. Dyson Roger Enrico Robert A. Freling Larry Hagman (In Memoriam) Jonathan W. Postal Jonathan Silver Mary Green Swig Steven L. Swig |
| Website | http://www.self.org |
The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit whose mission is to design and implement solar energy solutions to assist those living in energy poverty with their economic, educational, health care, and agricultural development. Since 1990, SELF has completed projects in more than 20 countries, using solar energy to power drip irrigation in Benin, health care in Haiti, telemedicine in the Amazon rainforest, online learning in South Africa, and microenterprise development in Nigeria.
Executive Director:
Robert Freling
SELF believes that energy access is essential to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. SELF’s Whole Village Development Model takes an integrated approach to community empowerment by using a mix of solar energy solutions to improve the lives of the 1.5 billion people who don’t have access to electricity around the world. By working closely with communities and adhering to its principles of SELF Determination, SELF Help and SELF Reliance, it seeks to provide benefits in:
SELF was founded in 1990 by Neville Williams, an award-winning journalist and author (Chasing the Sun: Solar Adventures Around the World), who had experience actively promoting solar power as a staffer with the U.S. Department of Energy during the Carter administration. For much of the 1990s, SELF’s primary mission was to deliver solar home systems – 50-watt units installed at the household level that could generate enough power to run a few compact fluorescent lights, a radio, and a small black and white television for four or five hours each evening. The electricity generated by the solar panel is stored in a battery, which then provides power at night and during rainy weather.
In its early projects, SELF used funds donated by private philanthropies to buy home-size photovoltaic systems in bulk on the open market, usually enough for one small village at a time. SELF then sold the systems to villagers in developing areas, in partnership,where possible, with in-country nonprofit agencies. Each participating household made a 20 percent down payment on a solar energy system and paid off the balance – usually between $300 and $400 – over several years. The buyers’payments were pooled in a local revolving loan fund from which their neighbors could borrow to buy their own solar power gear. SELF used a portion of the proceeds on the equipment to establish a local dealership and train residents as solar installers and technicians. The revolving loan funds made it possible for villagers to finance the continued dissemination of solar systems in their areas.
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Wikipedia