The Million Solar Panel Challenge

May 18, 2024

By Aur Beck, Rotary Global Travelers Associate Member and Co-Chair of the Renewable Energy Task Force of ESRAG (Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group). You can view Aur’s presentation at a recent Rotary Global Traveler’s meeting here.

ESRAG (Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group) was founded in 2015 and has 13 very active regional chapters around the world. ESRAG brings together Rotarians (and non-Rotarians) to work on a variety of initiatives focused on addressing the serious threats that face our planet. Membership in ESRAG is separate from your Rotary club membership and is open to anyone.

I am fortunate to be co-chair of an ESRAG initiative called The Million Solar Panel Challenge.

Rotary is noted for our ability to harness the energy, enthusiasm, and resources of our vast membership to do big things. The near eradication of polio is just one example.

Think what a difference we could make if every Rotarian around the world installed a solar panel or sponsored the installation of a solar panel! That’s the equivalent of planting 10 million trees. We would save about $3.5 billion in electricity cost and stop more than 7.5 million tons of carbon from being released into the air. Wow!

You can take part in this important challenge in three different ways:

You can install one or more solar panels in your home or business
You can partner with a group in your area that installs solar panels
You can donate to organizations that deploy solar panels for those who can’t afford them

Logging your participation is essential. It helps us demonstrate our success and to build momentum for this project. You can document your participation or donate on the Million Solar Panels website.

Million Solar Panels Initiative

As Rotarians, when we participate in a solar panel initiative in the developing world or donate to a project, it has valuable ripple effects. In addition to helping to protect the environment, solar panels can provide reliable electricity in places where people today can’t rely on the availability of power. Like clean water, power is an essential resource to help lift people out of poverty.

Rotarians around the world are actively engaged in solar panel projects. ESRAG is actively engaged with them to learn from their experiences, increase collaboration, and promote this challenge.

The images below highlight several solar projects by Rotarians and their impact.