Recent economic concerns have inspired increased interest in renewable energy solutions among Native Americans. By 2007, TWP and Lakota Solar Enterprises (LSE) had presented interactive solar heating workshops in ten communities in seven states across the Great Plains. During each workshop, one family received a solar heating system from TWP. These families’ experience–greater warmth and comfort, coupled with their lower heating bills–demonstrated to tribal leaders how renewable energy can directly help entire communities.

To help tribes increase their renewable energy knowledge and capabilities, TWP and our partner, Henry Red Cloud, established the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center (RCREC), where tribes from around the country can receive hands-on training in renewable energy applications from Native American trainers. LSE’s assembly and manufacturing facility was renovated to include residential quarters for visiting trainees. Initially, visiting tribal members are learning how to assemble and install solar heating systems, as well as strategies to help them establish successful installation programs in their own communities. So far, more than 35 trainees from tribes in North and South Dakota have received their “Solar Technician I” certificates.

Since July, 2009, RCREC has been powered by solar electricity – produced by a 2 kW photo voltaic array donated by Namaste Solar in Boulder, Colorado. Namaste staff helped install the system, as part of an interactive workshop on solar electricity attended by local residents and members of the neighboring Rosebud Sioux Tribe. Besides providing sustainable power for RCREC, the array will serve as a teaching tool for future trainings in solar electricity. RCREC’s facilities also include demonstration solar heaters, a solar electric system, straw-bale office, wind turbine, green houses and garden, buffalo from the Red Cloud herd, and wind-break and shade trees. As RCREC expands its expertise, training sessions on a wide range of applications will be added, including small wind turbines, solar electric PV systems, sustainable building techniques, and organic gardening.

In addition to educating about the benefits of renewable energy, RCREC’s training is creating green jobs for residents of Pine Ridge, as well as visiting trainees from other tribes. As tribal leaders learn how to incorporate sustainable technology into their housing, employment-training and energy strategies, the impact will increase exponentially. By harnessing the renewable power of the sun, we can significantly improve the lives of Native Americans living on reservations across the Great Plains.