History
SELF was founded in 1990 by Neville Williams, an award-winning journalist and author of Chasing the Sun: Solar Adventures Around the World. Williams had worked for the U.S. Department of Energy promoting solar power during the Carter administration. In its early projects, SELF used funds provided by the World Bank, private philanthropies and development agencies to buy enough modest home-size Solar Home Systems (SHS) for one small village at a time. SELF developed a microfinance program to help villagers purchase the systems for their homes, and established local dealerships and trained members of the community as solar installers and technicians.
The programs yielded broad benefits. In much of the developing world, the primary fuel for night lighting is kerosene, which causes more than 20,000 injuries and house fires annually through spills and explosions. In addition, each kerosene-fueled lamp emits an average of 6 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere annually, and exposes family members to hazardous fumes the equivalent of smoking two packs of cigarettes per day.
SELF’s goal was to pave the way for the commercialization of solar household electrification in the developing world. By 1997, SELF had established 11 self-sustaining solar energy projects in 11 countries across Asia, Africa, and South America. Through pilot projects around the world, SELF demonstrated the willingness of rural families to pay for solar electricity at the household level when they are given access to credit.
In 1997 SELF launched a for-profit affiliate, the Solar Electric Light Company (SELCO), in Bangalore, India, whose goal was to sell SHS in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. SELCO sold close to 90,000 solar home systems in India. Williams stepped down from his role with SELF to run SELCO International, and SELF’s board of directors appointed Robert A. Freling as executive director.
Over the next few years, SELF continued to expand the use of solar energy for a broader range of development objectives. In 2000, SELF launched its next generation of community-wide projects to harness solar energy for advancing water pumping and purification; providing electricity to rural schools, health clinics and micro-enterprises; and facilitating access to wireless communications. More recently, SELF worked with the Clinton Foundation and Partners In Health (PIH) to launch solar energy solutions for a series of rural health centers in Rwanda and Tanzania.
In 2010, the grammy-winning reggae band Steel Pulse released a single Hold On 4 Haiti - 100% of the proceeds go to Haiti - to solar electrify health clinics through SELF and Partners In Health. The song is available for download exclusively at holdon4haiti.org.
Read more about this topic: Solar Electric Light Fund
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