SELF’s mission is to provide solar power and wireless communications to a quarter of the world’s population living in energy poverty. Acting as a catalyst, SELF provides technical and financial assistance to empower these people to change their lives.

SELF believes that energy is a human right. To meet global challenges such as food and water scarcity, climate change and poverty, SELF is working to assign greater priority to the importance of sustainable energy among international development banks, aid agencies, foundations, and philanthropic individuals, who are committed to improving the health, education, and economic prospects of the world's poorest citizens.

The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) helps developing nations power a brighter future for their people and the planet through innovative uses of solar energy. SELF's projects address vital needs including household lighting, water pumping and purification, vaccine refrigeration, microenterprise, and modern communications. Solar electricity is the only proven sustainable means of meeting the electric power needs of the widely dispersed rural population of the developing world.

Seventy percent of people in the developing world still have no access to electricity in their homes, health clinics, or schools, and are completely isolated from the modern world's wealth of resources. Kerosene lamps, candles, and dry cell batteries are used for home lighting and radios. Health clinics have no means to power refrigerators necessary for vaccine and other drug preservation, and health care workers have limited access to modern medical knowledge and research. Children in village schools spend hours hand - copying notes off of chalk boards because their schools have no photocopiers; and without computers, these kids are being left behind by the digital divide of information haves and have-nots.

Instead of waiting for the electric grid and telephone landlines, which may never come, rural communities can connect to the world today, thanks to a combination of solar power and wireless communications. Acting as a catalyst, SELF provides technical and financial assistance for solar energy and wireless communication systems in the developing world. In every action, SELF seeks to honor the integrity of indigenous cultures, and to respect the delicate balance of the local and global ecosystem.

Since our founding in 1990, SELF has launched solar rural electrification projects in 18 countries: China, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Solomon Islands, Bhutan, Nigeria, Lesotho, and most recently in Benin, Burundi and Rwanda.

SELF was founded in 1990 by Neville Williams, an award-winning journalist and author of Chasing the Sun: Solar Adventures Around the World. Williams had worked for the U.S. Department of Energy promoting solar power during the Carter administration.

In its early projects, SELF used funds provided by the World Bank, private philanthropies and development agencies to buy enough modest home-size Solar Home Systems (SHS) for one small village at a time. SELF developed a microfinance program to help villagers purchase the systems for their homes, and established local dealerships and trained members of the community as solar installers and technicians.

The programs yielded broad benefits. In much of the developing world, the primary fuel for night lighting is kerosene, which causes more than 20,000 injuries and house fires annually through spills and explosions. In addition, each kerosene-fueled lamp emits an average of 6 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere annually, and exposes family members to hazardous fumes the equivalent of smoking two packs of cigarettes per day.

SELF’s goal was to pave the way for the commercialization of solar household electrification in the developing world. By 1997, SELF had established 11 self-sustaining solar energy projects in 11 countries across Asia, Africa, and South America. Through pilot projects around the world, SELF demonstrated the willingness of rural families to pay for solar electricity at the household level when they are given access to credit.

In 1997 SELF launched a for-profit affiliate, the Solar Electric Light Company (SELCO), in Bangalore, India, whose goal was to sell SHS in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. SELCO sold close to 90,000 solar home systems in India. Williams stepped down from his role with SELF to run SELCO International, and SELF’s board of directors appointed Robert A. Freling as executive director.

Over the next few years, SELF continued to expand the use of solar energy for a broader range of development objectives. In 2000, SELF launched its next generation of community-wide projects to harness solar energy for advancing water pumping and purification; providing electricity to rural schools, health clinics and micro-enterprises; and facilitating access to wireless communications. Most recently, SELF worked with the Clinton Foundation and Partners In Health (PIH) to launch solar energy solutions for a series of rural health centers in Rwanda and Tanzania.