Funding Area: Poverty Alleviation
For 35 years, the Solar Electric Light Fund has used the power of the sun to bring electricity to more than 1 million people in the world’s most remote communities. Our Mission: The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) uses the power of the sun to fight poverty and climate change.
Energy poverty 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 energy projects, with a focus on environmental justice, community ownership, and scalable outcomes.
SELF was born upon the idea that everyone, everywhere should have access to the life-changing benefits energy provides. Across 25+ countries, we’ve seen how energy plants the seed for new opportunity. All projects are community-driven, ensuring local needs are honored and met.
Projects We Support
Powering Brighter Futures: Using Solar Energy for Water Access at Two Commerce Centers in Benin
This pilot project, a partnership between the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) and our Beninese sister organization, the Association pour le Développement Économique, Social, Culturel, et l’Autopromotion (ADECSA), will bring running water for the first time to two community business centers within the district of Kalalé, Benin. Kalalé is a poor, rural region in northern Benin lacking both electricity and water infrastructure. The district is approximately 1,385 sq miles with an estimated 200,000 people. It is among the poorest regions in Benin. The project will introduce solar-powered running water and WASH (Water Access, Sanitation and Hygiene) services at two solar-powered Micro-Enterprise Centers (MECs), providing reliable access to clean water for thousands of people while demonstrating a scalable, climate-resilient model. These two MECs are located in two towns within the Kalalé district, Lou-Danganzi and Dunkassa.
SELF and ADESCA have collaborated for nearly 20 years on a variety of community-initiated projects in the region of Kalalé, Benin. Over the past decade, SELF installed 44 solar-powered drinking water stations, improving the lives of over 40,000 residents. The maintenance and operations of the drinking water stations are overseen by ADESCA. However, Kalalé remains almost entirely without sanitary public places for washing hands or using the toilet. Toilets and hand-washing stations are completely absent in the smaller, rural villages and towns such as Lou-Danganzi and Dunkassa, which presents grave health issues especially when human waste contaminates the underground water table. Contaminated human waste in groundwater poses severe health risks and can cause diseases like cholera, typhoid, dysentery, and others.
Success of this project will be measured by public use of the new water services at the MECs, the establishment of new businesses, and the improved livelihoods of the entrepreneurs.
Support Dates: April, 2026 – Ongoing
