Message-ID: <199603201642.IAA24703@cdp.igc.apc.org> Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 08:42:26 -0800 From: Tom Gray <mailto:tomgray@IGC.APC.ORG> Subject: David Freeman/SELF To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
From: "Solar Electric Light Fund" <mailto:solarlectric@igc.apc.org> To: mailto:solarlectric@self.org Date: Mon, 18 Mar 1996 18:28:26 +0000 Subject: RSVP_List: SELF News Release---------------------------------------------------------- Posted to the Renewables for Sustainable Village Power List By: "Solar Electric Light Fund" <mailto:solarlectric@igc.apc.org> ---------------------------------------------------------- NEWS RELEASE:
S. DAVID FREEMAN NAMED CHAIRMAN OF SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND; WILL HEAD GLOBAL EFFORT TO PROVIDE POWER TO RURAL PEOPLE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.
March 18, 1996--The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) announced today that S. David Freeman, former chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), has joined the organization as Chairman of the Board. In his new position, he will oversee the formation of an investment company to finance large-scale deployment of solar electric home lighting systems to help serve the two-fifths of the world's people who do not have access to electricity.
Freeman, who headed the New York Power Authority (NYPA) for the past two years, and Neville Williams, founder and president of SELF, have joined forces to help speed the delivery of solar electricity to rural families in developing countries. They believe that unless new forms of affordable financing for electric services are made available, more than two billion people have little prospect of enjoying the benefits of electricity any time soon. With the combined experiences of SELF and Freeman, a new focus will be brought to the creation of broad-based solar rural electrification worldwide.
SELF, a non-profit organization formed in 1990 in Washington, DC, has pioneered the use of solar photovoltaics (PV) for rural electrification programs in developing countries. It has set up solar rural electrification programs in 10 countries since 1990. SELF has helped local groups in developing countries to finance, install, and maintain their own solar home electric systems. SELF has demonstrated that decentralized electric power generated by photovoltaic panels can cost a family no more than it already spends for kerosene, candles, and dry-cell batteries, the usual source of light for rural people without access to the electric grid. In fact, for the same cost, solar electric systems provide far more useful service than kerosene or candles, because they can operate radios and television sets as well as provide clean and safe lighting.
Even so, solar home systems costing $400 to $600 are too expensive for most rural families to purchase outright. In effect, they are asked to pay in advance for their next 20 years of electric service, the typical life of a solar PV panel. "We want to make solar lighting economical for millions by selling electric service in developing countries at a monthly charge similar to the pricing of urban utilities that will cover costs and provide a profit to investors," Freeman says.
SELF has already formed Solar Electric Light Company (SELCO) Pvt. Ltd, a solar energy service company, in Bangalore, India, and has a joint venture with the Gansu PV Company, of Lanzhou, China, which manufactures components for solar electric systems. SELF is also developing commercially sustainable solar enterprises in several target countries. These efforts will receive financial, technical, and managerial support from the international parent company.
David Freeman has 18 years experience as the CEO of four major electrical utilities, including the New York Power Authority (NYPA), the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and the Lower Colorado River Authority, each with revenues of billions of dollars annually. He helped found the Utility PhotoVoltaic Group (UPVG), a consortium of 90 U.S. electric utilities interested in developing solar energy sources. In his career, he has implemented numerous solar thermal and PV projects, including the solar electric PV Pioneers program of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District in California.
"We are very pleased that Mr. Freeman has chosen to bring his vision and his experience in utility management to serve the world's unelectrified population," Williams said. "SELF has proven that millions of rural and semi-urban families in developing countries are willing and able to pay for simple, low-cost, reliable solar electric systems that can power lights, TVs, radio-cassette players and fans. All that is required is financing."
SELF is currently implementing pilot financing mechanisms for solar rural electrification in China, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Vietnam, Uganda, Tanzania, Brazil, Indonesia and Nepal.
For more information, please contact
Solar Electric Light Fund: 1734 20th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 Phone: (202) 234-7265 Fax: (202) 328-9512 email: mailto:solarlectric@self.org