GivePower is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that develops clean water and energy systems in communities across the world. GivePower has installed 2,650

solar power Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to c ...

installations in villages across 17 different countries and in underdeveloped areas of the United States.

History

GivePower was co-founded in 2013 in California by Hayes Barnard and Lyndon Rive as the non-profit branch of

SolarCity SolarCity Corporation was a publicly traded company headquartered in Fremont, California, that sold and installed solar energy generation systems as well as other related products and services to residential, commercial, and industrial custom ...

. After SolarCity merged with Tesla in 2016, GivePower was spun off into an independent organization just before the merger was completed. The president of GivePower is Hayes Barnard. In 2014, the organization's first focus was to provide one school with solar-powered lighting for every megawatt of solar system installed by SolarCity that year. In 2021, GivePower was listed as a finalist in ''

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually. History ''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...

's'' 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards.

Projects

In 2016, GivePower began developing solar powered

desalination Desalination is a process that removes mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination is the removal of salts and minerals from a substance. One example is Soil salinity control, soil desalination. This is important for agric ...

technology that could be exported to developing regions. The desalination systems are contained within 20-foot shipping containers and can desalinate up to 75,000 gallons of seawater and/or brackish water into potable water per day. In 2018, GivePower installed its first desalination plant in

Kiunga, Kenya Kiunga is a division in the Lamu District of Coast Province located close to the Indian Ocean coast of northern Kenya, and only 15 kilometres to the border with Somalia. A major marine conservation area, the Kiunga Marine National Reserve has ...

, which is also solar powered. The project cost $500,000 and took one month to construct. As of 2019, the Kiunga plant could produce enough drinking water for up to 50,000 people per day and requires minimal maintenance. As of 2018, GivePower had installed 2650 solar power installations in villages through seventeen different countries for institutions like primary schools and medical clinics. They have also developed solar installations in underdeveloped areas of the United States, including the

Standing Rock Sioux Reservation The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota controls the Standing Rock Reservation (), which straddles the border between North and South Dakota in the United States, and is inhabited by ethnic " Hunkpapa and Sihasapa bands of Lak ...

. Once installations are completed, GivePower transfers the maintenance and running of them to local communities. In 2019, GivePower built a 300 kilowatt solar farm on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation which became the largest solar installation in North Dakota. The project was a partnership between Empowered by Light and GivePower, and the total cost was $470,000. The maintenance of the solar farm also created jobs for the Sioux Nation Tribe. The same year, the organization partnered with World Hope International to build a solar-powered desalination center in Haiti. The water plant was fully operational and self-sufficient by 2020.

References

{{Portalbar, Renewable energy, Water 2013 establishments in California Solar power Charities based in California