Empowered by Light

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Empowered by Light

We are a mission-driven nonprofit organization empowering high-risk communities on the frontlines of climate change, wildlife loss and environmental devastation. Empowered By Light has completed over 50 solar and energy projects in 8 countries helping children study better, helping rangers and conservationists protect critical habitat and species, and helping communities become more resilient.

09/03/2026

Earlier this year we were honored to win the Community Project Award at the Puerto Rico Energy Week Impact Awards. Now our work with El Pesebre in Ponce is up on billboards across San Juan!

The project: solar + battery storage keeps Ministerio misionero El Pesebres inc. community kitchen running, even through grid outages. One month after install, the system powered 300 breakfasts during a blackout. That's resilience in action.

Thank you to Advanced Energy Group for the recognition and the platform to share this story. We also want to thank the NJ Puerto Rico Commission for providing us with a grant that made this project possible.

If you are in San Juan this week and see one of the billboards, send us a picture — we'd love to see it!

08/28/2026

How much do you actually know about lowering your electric bill?

It's quiz time

1. True or False: A phone charger plugged in with nothing attached still draws power.

True. It's called "phantom load," and across all your devices, it adds up over a year.

2. Which uses more energy annually — your fridge or your AC?

AC, often by a wide margin, but your fridge running 24/7 consumes more energy than most people think.

3. True or False: Solar + battery storage only makes sense in sunny, warm climates.

False. The solar and battery storage system we recently helped install on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in southeastern Montana now runs the Tribe's Bison Restoration Program, powering electric fencing and entirely replacing diesel generators.

08/25/2026

Please join us in welcoming Dorcas Siachiyobo as EBL's new Regional Lead for Sub-Saharan Africa!

Dorcas brings more than seven years of experience advancing sustainable community development across Sub-Saharan Africa. Including her experience as Program Officer at ADRA Zambia.

Dorcas holds a Master's in Development Studies, a Bachelor's with Honors in Sociology and Gender Development Studies, and professional certifications in Project Management and Monitoring & Evaluation.

Dorcas is driven by a genuine passion for partnerships and creating lasting impact — values that align with our mission to bring clean energy and connectivity to remote and disadvantaged communities across the continent.

We're excited for Dorcas to help expand our impact in the region. Welcome to the team!

Learn more about our team and mission: empoweredbylight.org/team

08/19/2026

Since 2022, OpenSolar has committed 1% of their annual revenue to Empowered by Light — positively impacting thousands of lives.

OpenSolar's commitment enabled us to provide four rural communities in Zambia with solar water pumping and irrigation systems--empowering women, improving safety and boosting opportunity. And in 2025, we installed solar+storage at the Kaloko Clinic, serving nearly 20,000 people, where mothers had been giving birth in the dark, vaccines couldn't be kept cold, and emergency procedures had been done by smartphone lights due to severe load shedding.

Now, thanks to OpenSolar and every installer using their platform, the four rural communities have safe access to water and the Kaloko Clinic has reliable power around the clock.

This is what real commitment looks like.

Learn how you can be a part of projects like these by visiting our website (Link in Bio)

08/14/2026

For the Chapra Nation in the Peruvian Amazon, solar power and internet access aren't luxuries, they offer a lifeline. Now families can call for help in an emergency, education is improved for school-age children, and leaders like Chapra Nation President Olivia Bisa can alert authorities and coordinate real-time defense of their land against illegal logging, mining, oil damage and drug cartels.

We've partnered once again with Amazon Watch to bring solar energy, satellite internet and freezers (to preserve their crops and encourage economic development) to 12 Chapra communities.

Learn more about this project by watching this video https://youtu.be/nTLi3DPhkP8?si=iZ7ye_V9JFn_YKaD

08/11/2026

Solar power doesn't just light homes, it also protects wildlife. Here's how:

Keeping watering holes full

In Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, severe droughts dry up the watering holes elephants and other animals depend on to survive. Working with Friends of Hwange, EBL helped install solar+battery-powered water pumps to keep those watering holes full so wildlife could survive Africa's recent severe drought.

Powering the people who protect wildlife

In 2021, EBL partnered with SimpliPhi Power to provide 45 kilowatt-hours of energy storage to the Akashinga, Zimbabwe's all-women anti-poaching ranger force, who patrol 1.3 million acres helping protect endangered wildlife. That power runs their training facilities, kitchens, laundry, and water well.

Lighting the way for rangers in Nepal

At Chitwan National Park, we installed solar and battery storage on a ranger station and five observation towers, giving rangers the light, power, and communication they need to protect endangered wildlife from poachers, while also generating income for local communities through eco-tourism.

Your gift helps us bring solar power to more parks, more rangers, and more wildlife that need it. Visit our website to make a donation www.empoweredbylight.org/donate

08/07/2026

Solar Boosts Opportunity for Vulnerable Youth

For over 20 years, the BUPE Mulenga Youth Training Center in Ndola, Zambia has been changing lives. They’ve trained over 120 vulnerable young people every year in tailoring, carpentry, bricklaying, catering, and metal fabrication, giving them the opportunity to learn new income-earning skills and transform their lives.

But the constant grid failures caused interruptions and cancellations in the training.

Thanks to a new solar + storage system, they now have the reliable power they need to run sewing machines in the tailoring department, welding equipment in metal fabrication, cooking equipment for catering students, and power tools across carpentry and bricklaying without interruption.

This is our third project in partnership with BEGECA, and we plan to continue bringing renewable energy where it's needed most.

Learn more about our work in Zambia: www.empoweredbylight.org

08/04/2026

Right now, Indigenous communities in the Amazon are under serious threat.

In Brazil, armed men have entered the Ashaninka village of Apiwtxa several times in the past month, searching for community leaders. In Peru, Indigenous communities are increasingly crossing the border to escape drug traffickers pushing into their territory. These incidents are part of a broader pattern of organized crime expanding across the region.

The Ashaninka in Brazil and the Shipibo-Konibo and Chapra in Peru are some of the communities we work with in the Amazon. They've spent generations protecting the forests, but now they and the forests they protect are in danger.

What role does renewable energy play in stopping armed intrusions. It helps remote communities monitor their territories and communicate with each other and the outside world when they need to raise the alarm. That's why our work on both sides of this border isn't just about energy access, it's about protecting the protectors.

Let’s stand with the people protecting the Amazon for all of us. Follow us as we continue this work, and share this post so more people understand what's happening on the ground.

07/30/2026

☀️ Solar isn't just power — it's protection, education, health, and hope.

800M+ people live without electricity worldwide. We've spent years showing what solar can change: safer water access for women in Zambia 💧, fire stations running after Hurricane María 🚒, telemedicine in the Amazon 🩺, and a 89% jump in pass rates at a solar-powered school 📚.

Real stories, real impact. Read more about it at https://bit.ly/4mvOrOt

07/28/2026

Quiz time! How much do you really know about Machu Picchu?

It's called the "Lost City of the Incas" — but it was never actually lost. Local communities knew exactly where it was all along, and even farmed the surrounding land for generations.

It's essentially earthquake-proof. Incan builders cut stones to fit together so precisely (no mortar needed!) that during a quake, the stones can shift and move back into place instead of crumbling.

"Machu Picchu" actually translates to "Old Mountain."

This kind of ingenuity and resilience is exactly what inspires our work in Peru where we completed 27 solar-powered communications projects. These systems help indigenous communities stay connected, informed, and safe — powered by the sun, built to last.

Learn more about our work in Peru: www.empoweredbylight.org/peru

Address

7 Pixley Avenue, #363
Corte Madera, CA
94976

Website

http://empoweredbylight.org/

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