Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF)

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The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) uses the power of the sun to fight poverty and climate change.

Energy access is at the root of some of our biggest global inequities—from education to food security to public health. SELF works with communities around the world to establish solar projects, with a focus on environmental justice, community ownership, and scalable outcomes.

10/08/2026

Sometimes, the drive from urban center to rural village can be long.

For SELF and our partners, traveling to project sites from the nearest city can take hours, if not days.

However, the travel time isn't the real problem. The real problem is the distance from these rural villages to the nearest functioning electric grid, and the inequalities that produces in a person's life.

Where someone is born shouldn't determine the opportunities they have. Technologies like solar microgrids make it possible for communities to generate, and benefit from, their own locally produced power.

That's what we're building at SELF.

Join the movement for energy access ➡️ https://secure.qgiv.com/for/donatetoself

10/05/2026

What does maternal health care look like without electricity?

❌ Screenings missed
❌ Vaccines unavailable
❌ Babies born in darkness

Every mother and child deserves access to good care. That starts with electricity.

Join the movement for universal energy access: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/donatetoself

09/30/2026

Solar power is helping protect Kenya's precious wildlife. 🦏 ☀️

In the Maasai Mara, SELF partnered with the Olchoro Rhino Sanctuary to install a solar-powered water system, providing reliable water for the rhinos and the rangers who protect and care for them.

“The water project at the rhino sanctuary is not just about quenching thirst," Doris Naire Nabaala, conservancy manager, shared. "It is about sustaining life, protecting biodiversity, and ensuring that every creature—from the rhinos to people to the smallest bird—thrives in harmony with its environment.”

Thank you to everyone who makes this work possible!

Olchoro-Oirouwa Conservancy Mara Olchoro Conservancy

09/22/2026

The clean energy transition is accelerating. But is energy access keeping pace?

As world leaders gather in New York for the UN General Assembly and Climate Week NYC, the latest data on Sustainable Development Goal 7 offer a mixed picture.

Renewable energy is growing rapidly. Yet global electricity access has stalled at 92%, leaving hundreds of millions of people without power—and many more with electricity that is unreliable, insufficient, or unaffordable.

The challenge ahead isn't simply to build more clean energy. It's to make sure its benefits reach everyone.

SELF's latest blog looks at the state of global energy access in 2026, the growing divide facing rural communities, and the role distributed renewable energy can play in closing the gap.

Read it here: https://www.self.org/blog/sdg-7-in-2026-is-global-energy-access-keeping-pace/

09/16/2026

For off-grid communities, the journey to water is long and winding.

Today, 2.1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water in their homes and communities. Where water is unavailable, people often venture out, in some cases walking miles to meet this basic necessity. According to the United Nations, more than 300 million hours are spent each day on water collection. Women disproportionately bear this burden, sacrificing time and labor to meet their household’s needs.

What does this have to do with electricity? Municipal water systems rely on electricity to function. No power means no water pumping, purification, or distribution. For countless off-grid communities, this is a daily reality. But the grid isn’t the only way.

Solar power can fill the gap, extending a clean water future to everyone. SELF’s solar-powered water programs have brought clean water to tens of thousands of people.

💧 Help us power what's next: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/donatetoself

09/10/2026

We love seeing the different ways members of the SELF community support our work.

Longtime SELF board member Jonathan Postal recently published his debut novel, High Country: A Mountain Town Crime Thriller. He’s generously donating a portion of the proceeds from book sales to SELF. Those sales have already generated $1,000 in support of our work.

JW recently caught up with executive director Bob Freling, High Country in hand, to celebrate the milestone.

Congratulations, JW, and thank you for your years of service to SELF!

Order your copy of High Country here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/high-country-jonathan-w-postal/1149026335?ean=9798279605279

09/03/2026

Soar over the Derrassi solar garden 🕊️

Can you guess what’s growing in Benin this time of year?

09/01/2026

It’s back-to-school season, but not all students have the same tools to learn. 📚

According to the United Nations, more than half of primary schools in the world’s least-developed countries still lack electricity.

No power means no lights, computers, internet, or other digital learning tools.

Energy access is education access ➡️ https://www.self.org/education/

08/25/2026

𝗔 𝗠𝗮𝗮𝘀𝗮𝗶 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. ☀️

For centuries, the Maasai people have lived alongside the extraordinary wildlife of Kenya's Maasai Mara, stewarding a landscape shared with elephants, lions, zebras, rhinos, and countless other species.

Today, climate change and resource scarcity are putting increasing pressure on livelihoods and the surrounding ecosystem.

But Maasai leaders have a vision for the future—and it is already underway. Together, SELF and the Maasai are working to implement a first-of-its-kind solar initiative in the northern Maasai Mara.

Already, families have gained access to solar-electric cooking. Solar-powered clean water systems are being installed across several communities. Electrification is planned for two local schools and one health facility.

With access to energy comes improved health, safety, and opportunity for Maasai families. And nature benefits too. Thoughtfully designed, carbon-free systems reduce emissions, improve climate adaptation, and preserve the surrounding landscape.

People and planet can thrive together. This initiative is living proof, but we need your support to keep it moving forward. Help us bring clean energy where it's needed most: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/donatetoself

Address

2021 L Street NW Ste 101/344
Washington D.C., DC
20036

Website

https://www.self.org/

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