About Us

The Solar Foundation’s mission is to fund and accelerate off-grid solar solutions for underserved communities in emerging markets with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. We believe decentralized clean energy is a public good, and that by partnering with community led NGOs and utilizing new technologies such as blockchain, we can accelerate progress toward SDG7: Universal access to affordable, reliable, clean and modern energy.

Through our work in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Nigeria, we have seen how small, decentralized solutions provide ripples of exponential impact including improved health outcomes, increased economic opportunities and greater climate adaptation and resilience. The Solar Foundation’s focus is evolving towards off-grid, full-stack, solar solutions for local, high-impact organizations such as schools, healthcare centers, community centers and agroforestry and regenerative farming cooperatives.

At The Solar Foundation, we envision innovative, sustainable funding models to enable rural, low-income communities to access clean energy and have an ownership stake in the solar deployed. Our aim is to democratize access to solar solutions and solar-powered appliances for improved well-being and prosperity—and a just transition to clean energy for ALL.

Solar Lanterns

We fund and give away solar lanterns in many of the communities we serve. We think of access to solar as a ladder with solar lanterns being the first rung up the ladder to energy access and independence.

In 2024, The Solar Foundation funded and distributed 350 solar lanterns to communities in Uganda and Nigeria. Solar lanterns provide light and charging for phones to those living without electricity. We see the lanterns as the first step to bringing people out of energy poverty. We have received feedback that they have helped children study at night, help keep phones charged and provide light at evening markets.

Solar Lanterns Funded in 2024

• Ayowecca Uganda - Tororo, Uganda - 285 lanterns
• Helper Foundation - Enugu, Nigeria - 50 lanterns
• Care for the Needy - Mityana, Uganda - 15 lanterns

Our Ecocert

We have minted an Ecocert to represent the impact of the solar lanterns we distributed in 2024. Funds from the sale of this Ecocert will fund additional solar lanterns.

🔗 Link to Ecocert
🔗 Link to images verifying this work

Team Members

Jon Ruth has over 15 years of experience developing, managing, and constructing over 400MW of C&I and utility-scale solar projects. He has also been on the nonprofit United Solar Initiative board for six years. Since 2016, Jon has been involved in cryptocurrency, working with Gitcoin, CCN, Spark and many other projects. For 20+ years, Jon has studied climate change and has a passion for building sustainable solutions to one of the most significant challenges humanity faces.

Coleen Chase has a bachelor’s in Business Administration and Marketing plus a minor in Technical Journalism. She has also completed courses in Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford and Moral Leadership at Acumen Academy. She is a Lead at the Climate Coordination Network (formerly the Gitcoin Climate Advisory Team) and former contributor to Gitcoin where she helped manage operations and outreach for the Gitcoin Grants Program. Her background includes marketing and operations at Microsoft and Apple. She is passionate about finding and creating models to utilize blockchain technology and web3 for meaningful, sustainable, real-world climate action.