SolarAid is a new organization out of the UK that supports solar programs in Africa. Longboard Capital recently donated to SolarAid because their mission is so closely aligned with our own.

SolarAid provides nighttime solar powered lighting for people in Africa. This allows kids to get their homework done and parents to do work after dark. SolarAid in many cases is helping to replace kerosene lanterns that cause buildups of carbon monoxide in the huts.

Executive Summary

We believe that the two most important threats facing humanity today are climate change and global poverty. SolarAid was launched in 2006 as a response to this.

SolarAid aims to enable the world's poorest people to have clean, renewable power. Solar power leads to better education, health, safety and income by allowing poor communities to cook, pump water, run fridges, store vaccines, light homes, schools, clinics and businesses, power computers and homes, farm more effectively, and much more.

SolarAid carries out DIY solar projects — training local communities how to build small scale solar devices such as solar powered radios and lanterns — and installs small solar systems for community centers, medical clinics, schools and other such communal infrastructure.

For the duration of this plan, we will:

1. Focus on sub-Saharan Africa, where the need is greatest. This will allow us to benefit from synergies as we develop a program of activity that is geographically focused.
2. Focus mainly on the rural poor, who are the most impoverished and marginalized from energy networks, although we will work with the urban poor if their access to the grid is limited or non-existent.
3. Build a solid program of DIY solar and installations before moving on to disaster relief and advocacy.
4. Work through international NGOs and local partner organizations rather than implementing directly. We will work with organizations that take a community-involvement approach to development.
5. Focus on program sustainability through a microbusiness approach that encourages beneficiaries to develop their own solar or solar-powered businesses, sustainable technologies and a gender approach.
6. Develop from the outset a solid system for monitoring and evaluation.

As SolarAid grows, it will educate and influence the public and policy-makers on issues related to renewable energy and climate change and their impact on the world's most impoverished people.