Solar Integrated Development: SELF's Maturity Model for Total Village Empowerment
For the past 20 years, the Solar Electric Light Fund has worked to deliver solar power to rural villages in Africa, Asia, and Latin America by facilitating a new generation of “whole village” solar electrification projects. In many of the countries in which SELF works, there is no other organization undertaking a similar, independent role in providing power to villages without existing resources. Our belief is that energy is a human right, and that without energy, community development becomes virtually impossible.
For now, let’s call this SELF’s Solar Integrated Development Maturity Model, our 5-level framework for understanding how energy poverty can be tackled at the local level, sustainably, one village at a time. The table below outlines our model:
|
1 Water |
2 Food |
3 Health |
4 Education |
5 Enterprise | |
|
Description |
Solar energy powers purification pumps and filters delivering clean water to communities |
Solar energy powers water pumps which enable drip irrigation for critical crops |
Solar energy powers health clinics allowing use of key equipment, lighting, & vaccine refrigeration. |
Solar energy powers schools to enable computers and Internet access |
Solar energy powers local entrepreneurial and community activities |
|
Process |
SELF provides assessment, training, installation and follow-up |
SELF provides assessment, training, installation and follow-up |
SELF partners with a local health organization (e.g. Partners in Health) |
SELF provides assessment, training, installation and follow-up |
SELF provides assessment, training, installation, follow-up and micro-lending |
|
Governance |
SELF projects are governed by local community members |
SELF projects are governed by local community members |
SELF projects are governed by local community members |
SELF projects are governed by local community members |
SELF projects are governed by local community members |
|
Case Studies |
Nigeria: Jigawa State; India: emergency relief for tsunami victims |
Benin: SELF’s Solar Market Garden project |
Haiti, Lesotho, Burundi, Rwanda: Solar Healthcare Partnership with Partners In Health; also Tanzania with the Clinton Global Initiative |
South Africa: schools in Eastern Cape Provnce |
Nigeria: Jigawa State’s solar-powered micro-enterprise buildings |
|
Results |
In Jigawa State, solar-powered pumps supply villages with clean, fresh water from deep wells |
a Stanford University study validates SELF’s Solar Market Garden project |
Partners In Health has committed to shifting all their clinics from reliance on diesel to solar |
two thousand students and their families now have access to reliable lighting, new computer labs and the Internet |
SELF’s micro enterprise initiatives create a variety of small businesses, from barbers and tailors, to peanut oil processing |
Level One: Water
Without access to clean drinking water, the standard of living in rural communities is always in “crisis” mode. Having a reliable water supply is the first priority of any village and this is especially true in the semi-desert of Nigeria’s Jigawa State where there are few rivers or other sources of water on the surface of the land. Typical methods of getting water range from open wells with rope and bucket, to hand pumps, to government supplied diesel-powered pumps that work only until they break down or until villagers run out of money to buy the expensive diesel fuel.
The powerful solar-powered pumps supplied with this project are designed to run maintenance free for eight to ten years or more and are currently supplying the villages with clean, fresh water from deep wells. Because the wells are tied into a village distribution system with numerous taps, the time that families used to spend getting water has been reduced as well. More >>
Vu du Ciel from Solar Electric Light Fund on Vimeo.
Food security is a critical issue in terms of stability and socio-economic development across the developing world. In November 2007, SELF partnered with Association pour le Developpement conomique Social et Culturel de Kalalé (ADESCA) to launch a remarkable pilot project, installing an innovative solar-powered drip irrigation system to pump water for food crops. SELF engineers developed a 2.1kW solar electric power supply that provides 100% of the energy for the pumps. SELF secured seed funding for the project by emerging as a winner in the 2006 Global Development Marketplace competition, sponsored by the World Bank.
See: Stanford University assessment validates SELF’s Solar Integrated Development Model
More information >>
Level Three: Health
Since 2006, SELF has been working in concert with Partners In Health (PIH) to provide solar power to their hospitals in Rwanda, Lesotho, and most recently, in Haiti.
In response to the devastating earthquake that struck Port-au-Prince on January 12, 2010, SELF is accelerating its commitment to power health clinics in Haiti with Partners In Health (PIH). We have already provided solar electricity to the clinic in Boucan Carré, Hince, and Cerca La Source, and will now speed the process of solar electrifying all 10 PIH sites in Haiti.
More info: Rwanda, Lesotho, Burundi, and Haiti >>
In 2000, SELF began a project to bring solar electricity to Myeka High School, in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, a poor, backwater region in KwaZulu, South Africa. Within the first year, the school was equipped with an overhead projector, two television sets, a VCR, a photocopier, a copy printer, and 20 computers marking the beginning of a new school experience for these youngsters. The enthusiasm in the school has been contagious throughout the teachers, students, and community. Teaching has become interactive using videos, TV programs, and overhead projectors to augment the learning experience. Students can now spend their time discussing topics and reading texts instead of hand-copying notes off the chalkboard. After receiving solar electricity at Myeka High School, not only did enrollment soar by 40%, but pass rates (the percentage of seniors who graduate with a diploma) jumped from 55% to 69%.
Then, in 2008 the Solar Electric Light Fund solar-electrified three schools in the Eastern Cape Province, the birthplace of Nelson Mandela. Funded through the generosity of the Kellogg Foundation and the JP Morgan Chase Foundation, with laptops provided by Dell Computers, two thousand students and their families now have access to reliable lighting, new computer labs and wireless Internet.
More >>
Level Five: Enterprise
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Bob - this is quite fascinating. The fact that SELF has managed to build an entire ecosystem of services meeting the basic needs of people using solar power is amazing. Congratulations