This week, SolarCity announced the creation of its GivePower Foundation and partnership with buildOn to provide solar energy to primary schools in the developing world.
The GivePower Foundation has pledged a primary school solar installation for every one megawatt of solar installed residentially in 2014. The foundation will partner with buildOn in Haiti, Mali, Malawi, and Nepal to install the units at schools without access to electricity.
In addition to working with buildOn employees and volunteers to install units, the GivePower Foundation will train community members to install and maintain the solar power systems at the schools in their villages.
Each solar installation will also come with batteries that can store energy so as to provide electricity at night – a crucial element to transforming the learning experience for those in nighttime Adult Literacy Classes and for students who typically learn by lantern light. Now, these schools truly become centers of light for their communities.
An estimated 291 million primary school students attend schools without electricity. We look forward to working with the GivePower Foundation to provide these communities with clean access to energy in a sustainable way.