NATIVE AMERICANS EXPAND ON SOLAR
SEI collaborates with Native American groups and not-for-profits to grow renewable solar power capacities in Native American communities. We have trained people from Western Shoshone, Skull Valley Goshute, Lakota Sioux, Yurok, Zuni, Hopi, Chippewa Nations, Bannock, Muskogee Creek, Cheyenne River, Oglala, and Navajo tribes.
In 2019, SEI formalized our partnership with Red Cloud Renewable (RCR) for the Tribal Train the Trainer (T4) program. T4 is designed to:
• Upskill Native American Trainers, preparing them to teach advanced level trainings at the RCR, where Native Americans from around the country come to receive hands-on training in renewable energy applications.
• Increase energy access across Native American communities, where 40% of people live without access to energy.
• Drive solar business entrepreneurship, and employment opportunities.
• To assist tribes’ development of solar energy infrastructure as a sustainable income-producing asset. Native American lands have 17.6 terawatt-hours (TWh) of solar energy potential – a staggering amount considering total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation in 2018 was 4.2 TWh.
Red Cloud Renewable (RCR) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit spin-off of Lakota Solar Enterprises, which is one of the first 100% Native American owned-and-operated renewable companies in the nation. Located on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Through the T4 program, Red Cloud Renewable is performing outreach to 37 tribes across the Great Northern Plains. In Year 1, the program trained a total of 19 people.
Tribal Train the Trainer is generously supported by The All Points North Foundation and The Turner Foundation.
PROGRAM PARTNERS
PROGRAM HISTORY
Empowering people, communities, and businesses through solar education and training has been a key tenet of SEI since our founding in 1991. SEI’s Native American program works collaboratively with Native American communities to develop capacity in designing, training, and installing PV systems of all sizes. Below are examples of projects SEI has been invited to work with indigenous communities on.
LEARN MORE
Want to learn more about how solar creates jobs, improves communities, and gives tribes an incredible asset? Check out the links!