Since its inception in 1990, SELF has brought Power to the People in
rural communities all over the globe. Upon celebrating our 10th
anniversary, SELF's Board of Directors
has broadened SELF's mission, in hopes of reaching more people and touching
more lives. Please read below to learn about some of SELF's
accomplishments from 1990-2000, or to learn more about SELF's expanded
mission, click
here
 2000
Developed a solar powered computer lab project in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Myeka High School now has a fully functional lab complete with 20 computers and wireless Internet access. Both teachers and students are excited about learning; the schools dropout rate has declined considerably since the introduction of  the computer lab.
 1998
Launched a first-of-a-kind fully-sustainable community solar project in a sunny, off-grid region of northeastern Brazil. Brazil is trying to narrow the gap between the rich and poor, and several state utilities believe solar PV can play a big role, but no one has yet developed any commercially sustainable means of delivering solar electricity to the ten million families identified as needing it.
 1997
In 1997, SELF completed a 50-house project in Sukiki on the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, in association with the Guadalcanal Rural Electrification Agency (GREA). The following year, an additional 50 homes in the neighboring village of Makaruka were equipped with solar home systems.
 1997
Founded
SELCO- India, launched as a commercial energy services company and now operating in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. SELF linked-up with India's 5th largest bank to finance solar lighting for consumers, serviced exclusively by SELCO-India.SELF installed the first SHS directly financed by the World Bank's first-ever loan for solar PV,and signed up farmer societies to be electrified by SELCO-India under the World Bank/Global Environment
Facilityprogram.
 1997
Launched a commercially sustainable village solar project in Indonesia in association with a local solar electric company. Indonesia has tens of thousands of unelectrified villages scattered among thousands of remote islands and the government has decided that PV offers the fastest and cheapest means of providing household electricity.
 1996
Linked the KwaZulu Finance Corporation in South Africa with the community of Maphaphethe in KwaZulu-Natal, where SHS are being financed through a "SELF-help" community project initially funded by the U.S. Dept. of Energy and co-funded by the South African Government's Dept. of Energy Affairs. SELF initially advised in the formation of the solar development agency, Renewable Energy for South Africa
(REFSA), which seeks to promote the PV electrification of 2.3 million homes in the next 10 years.
 1996
Completed the first phases of a large-scale pilot program in Vietnam in association with the Vietnam Women's Union
(VWU), which implements the project in 3 provinces and manages the credit mechanism. SELF and the VWU are developing a national rural electrification program to serve the 7 million families without access to the national grid.
 1995
Completed a 100-house pilot project in Uganda in association with Habitat for Humanity International,funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, executed by SELF, and implemented by Solar Energy For Africa, an African-owned and operated solar PV company headquartered in Kampala.
 1995
Completed the "Maasai Solar Energy Project" in Tanzania, where the Olkonerei Integrated Pastoralist Survival Programme seeks to preserve a 19th century way of life by using a 21st century technology. SELF provided training for PV technicians, PV power for a community center, solar lanterns for the
"bomas," and a solar-powered radio-telephone to link remote settlements.
 1994
Developed a pilot project in a Gurkha mountain village of Nepal, electrifying additional households entirely from proceeds to the community-managed revolving credit fund established by SELF in 1993. The Prime Minister of Nepal inaugurated the project in person in 1994, and later the government established a subsidization program for SHS through the Agricultural Development Bank.
 1993
Managed a 600 household solar electrification program in China on behalf of the U.S. Dept. of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of Golden, CO. The program completes SELF's 1000 House PV Project in Gansu Province begun in 1993. The program utilizes the credit and installation services of SELF's affiliate, the Gansu Solar Electric Light Fund, and SELF's joint-venture partner, the Gansu PV Company.
 1991
Launched SoLanka, Sri Lanka's first "all-solar NGO", which has led to the formation of the Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO). The World Bank recently approved a $30 Million "Energy Services Delivery Loan", the direct result of SELF's early activities in Sri Lanka. SELF founded the Solar Division of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, an island-wide development organization that is implementing the World Bank's pilot project to electrify 2,200 homes with SHS. RESCO will also participate in the World Bankęs solar project, financed through the banking sector.
1991
Designed the UNDP/GEF Zimbabwe Solar Project for Rural Household and Community Use for the Global Environment Facility in 1991, which has grown to 9,000 households, spawning dozens of small solar enterprises.
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