The Navajo Nation, United States of America

Kaibeto Chapter House

As part of an initiative spearheaded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) completed its first-ever project in the United States in October 2001.

The Background

Situated in the sun-filled states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, the Navajo Nation is home to approximately 200,000 Navajo Indians. Despite its location in the heart of the world’s richest nation, much of the Navajo Reservation is still underserved - or unserved - by basic infrastructure such as paved roads, clean water, dependable electricity, and consistent telephone service. Over half of the Navajo people live below poverty level.

Predictably, Navajos are also among those at the farthest reach of the digital divide, unable to take advantage of the Internet's rich resources, tools, and information to pursue educational and economic opportunities.

In an effort to bridge this gap, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation initiated the Native American Access to Technology Program, which offers grants to Indian tribes for the acquisition of computers, Internet access, and other information technology.

The Kaibeto Chapter

The people of the Kaibeto Chapter of the Navajo Nation were resettled in the northeastern corner of Coconino County, Arizona in the 1840's. A prominent member of the Chapter is Kelsey A. Begaye, the current President of the Navajo Nation.

The Kaibeto community's central meeting hall, or Chapter House, has neither dependable telephones nor electricity. When Kaibeto was selected as the site for a Gates Foundation project, the problem of telephone service (and, therefore, Internet connectivity) was overcome with assistance from OnSat Network Communications, a company that brings satellite Internet access to remote locales, both in the U.S. and in developing countries.

A satellite dish needs reliable electricity, of course, as do computers. To meet this challenge, OnSat enlisted the support of the Solar Electric Light Fund, with whom OnSat was teaming on a project deep in the Brazilian Amazon’s Xixuaú-Xipariná Ecological Reserve. Using solar panels, Kaibeto would be able to plug into the area's abundant sunshine, and gain power that would be not just dependable, but clean and affordable besides.

Implementation

After careful study of the power needs presented by the project, SELF designed a system consisting of twelve 75-watt BP Solar mono-crystalline panels. The array provides sufficient electricity for four Gateway computers, networking equipment, a scanner, a printer, and, of course, an Internet-connected satellite dish.

In order to ensure that the solar power system will provide long and trusty service, Kaibeto residents were trained in how to troubleshoot and care for all components, particularly the system batteries. Thanks to the new Internet access, SELF is easily reachable by e-mail should technical problems arise that the Kaibeto technicians cannot solve by themselves.

Access to the Internet will also enable SELF to stay in close touch with the Kaibeto community to evaluate the project's long term results.

The Power Is YOURS...

You can help fund SELF's Projects. Here are some examples of how your investment will help:

• $25 can purchase a full lighting kit, including ballast, fixture, and bulbs for a rural villiage home.
  

• $50 can purchase a deep-cycle battery that will store solar electricity for use in the evenings, or on days with heavy cloud cover.
  

• $100 can purchase high quality solar lantern that will allow villagers to have portable light at night.
  

• $500 can purchase a complete solar home system for one family, including: 50 watt solar module, battery, controller, switch, wiring, and bulbs.
  

• $1000 can pay for the program to train local citizens in the installation and maintenance of their solar home systems.

Back to top

Did you know a gift of $10 buys two efficient fluorescent light bulbs for a village school, home, or clinic?
Learn more>>>

A study for the U.S. government calculated that the gasoline equivalent of the energy saved over the lifetime of one 24-watt compact fluorescent bulb is sufficient to drive a Prius from New York to San Francisco.