Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND
SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 37 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,996,482 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($1,513,444). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 55% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.5M
- Funders on record
- 37
- Grants received
- $6.0M
- Net assets
- $773k
What Solar Electric Light Fund does
Mission
Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) provides solar power and wireless communications to the fifth of the world's population living in energy poverty to meet global challenges of food and water scarcity, basic healthcare and poverty. SELF is working to assign greater priority to the importance of sustainable energy among international development banks, international development and aid agencies, foundations, and philanthropic individuals who are committed to improving the health, education, and economic prospects of the world's poorest citizens.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Completed installation of 4 solar powered irrigation systems and purchased equipment for a fifth system in Kalale, Benin. Those systems are now producing significant crop yields to address food scarcity and to be sold at market to earn sufficient revenue to maintain the systems long term. Brought water to a Micro-enterprise center in Kalale, Benin to install sanitation in the community and provide water to local business. In cooperation with BarefootLaw, completed the installation of a solar powered "Law Box" to provide much needed legal counsel for at risk communities in rural Uganda. Drilled boreholes in the Mara Maasai of Kenya that will be used to provide clean water to communities in the conservancy. Worked with the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop, monitor and troubleshoot vaccine refrigerators throughout the world. Installed a battery bank at a large school near Port au Prince, Haiti to provide power and security.
$1,075,806 spent$1,491,253 earned by the program100% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,075,806.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $459k to $1.5M (+228%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
98% of SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 5 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Robert Freling
Executive Director
Board chair
Steve Swig
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 10 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $209k → $504k.
11 of 37 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 55% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 37 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 25% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
58% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 69% · 2018 66% · 2019 51% · 2020 47% · 2021 38% · 2022 51% · 2023 33% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
36% of SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
55% of SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $2.7M that is directly attributable, 86% of it comes from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 14 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND is better cushioned than half of the 2,186 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,186 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
71% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
48%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND?
- SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 37 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,996,482 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($1,513,444). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 55% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND have?
- IRS filings report 37 organizations giving $5,996,482 in grants to SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND, 22 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND?
- NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $1,513,444 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Solar Electric Light →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2020–2024), and the filings of 37 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing