Renewable energy experts and colleagues Henry Red Cloud and Richard Fox recently received federal approval to establish a new nonprofit venture, aptly called Red Cloud Renewable. As long-time friends, associates and collaborators, Henry and Richard are truly two of the great solar warriors in our field. I join them in a mission to change the world through renewable energy education and development, especially through charitable programs and training workshops in areas of the world where it’s most needed.

Richard is the retired long-time Executive Director and co-founder of Trees, Water & People, a nonprofit he helped create in 1998 after a long career in forestry and natural resource conservation. Henry is the founder and sole proprietor of Lakota Solar Enterprises, one of the first 100% Native American owned-and-operated renewable companies in the nation, on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. In establishing a nonprofit renewable energy program, Henry and Richard can work with tribal communities to help build and install residential and facility-scale renewable energy applications on an official basis. This creates a foundation for prosperity in a world where heat and electricity are basically needs.

According to Trees, Water & People, on the Pine Ridge Reservation, more than 90% residences are heated with propane, electric heat and wood stoves. The typical heating expenses consume 50-70% of a household’s income. Helping tribal communities build off-grid solar air furnaces and ovens, grid-tied PV systems, and small wind turbines can help alleviate some of these costs.

For more info about Henry and Richard’s past and current efforts to embrace solar power and renewable energy on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where they assist families in reducing heating and electric bill costs, and throughout America, please visit: