My name is Bruce Gardiner and I founded Solar Roots in 2010. An electrician and solar contractor,  I retired in 2007 to travel overseas and work as a volunteer, installing and teaching renewable energy systems.  I pay all my own expenses and get donations from friends and supporters to buy materials. We are a 501(c)(3)  Non Profit Corporation, registered in California.

I've finished my 10th year of this work and it is growing by leaps and bounds, as is my own knowledge of that elusive thing we call sustainable  development. The goal of Solar Roots has many aspects including:

1. Teaching renewable energy systems to people in developing countries.
2. Helping establish new enterprises using renewable energy.
3. Working with existing businesses to develop new products, particularly stoves and cook pots.
4. Simply traveling to developing countries to share the lives of local people and express solidarity with them.

Please take a look at the Blog page to read up on my experiences in the various countries where I have worked. But for now, here's a quick summary:

• Spring 2008 - Volunteering with the Border Green Energy Team (BGET) in Mae Sot, Thailand, on the border with Myanmar. Teaching installation of photovoltaic (PV) systems.
• Spring 2009 - Installing small PV systems on clinics for Burmese refugees and internally displaced people. Also a solar hot water system and rainwater catchment system. Based in Sangkhlaburi, Thailand.
• Fall 2009 - Installing PV system on clinic on the island of La Tortue, Haiti. Teaching PV basics and learning how to dance, Haitian style!
• Spring and Summer 2010 - Supervising installation of small PV system on vocational school  and troubleshooting PV systems in hospital in Shirati, Tanzania. Installation of PV system on large clinic in Madagascar. Demonstrating solar cookers and many other development related projects in several parts of the country. 
• Fall 2010 - Back on La Tortue, Haiti, demonstrating improved cook stoves, studying water systems and supporting local groups fighting soil erosion.
• Winter and Spring 2011 - Sangklaburi, Thailand, building improved cook stoves for children's homes. Also in Laos, working with the Lao Institute for Renewable Energy on improved cook stoves and Sunlabob on solar water pumping.
• Summer 2011 - One month fact finding mission to Myanmar. In Madagascar, giving trainings in Solar PV, Improved Cookstoves.
• Winter and Spring 2012 - ​Dalat, Vietnam, helping refine gasifier stoves. Two weeks at Nu Po Refugee Camp on the Myanmar/Thailand border. Then 2.5 months in Myanmar giving both stove and PV trainings. 
• Summer 2012 - ​Finally, down under to Madagascar to do PV installations and trainings.
• Spring and Summer 2013 - Starting in Myanmar with stove and PV trainings, then Madagascar installing solar hot water and PV repair in remote clinics.
• Fall 2013 - Back to Ile de La Tortue to give trainings in Rocket Stoves
• Spring and Summer 2014 - 7 months in Myanmar mainly giving PV and Stove trainings in a wide array of settings from monasteries to orphanages to demonstration sites. Highlights included Naung Taung monastery, the Emmanuel orphanage and the Mangrove Research Center.​
• 2015 - Took a break from Solar Roots activities to deal with personal matters in California.
• 2016 - Mainly building our house in Pyin Oo Lwin, Burma, but also giving solar trainings in Kayin State.
• 2017 - Completed our house and got back to solar trainings, visiting such diverse peoples  as the Akhas in the Golden Triangle and the Mon in southern Burma. Began to keep composting worms (Vermiculture) in a serious way.
• 2018 - Taking our worm farm to the next level and realizing the great potential of this natural fertilizer. Collecting and composting very large quantities of leaves to make high quality leaf mold. Co-founded the Natural Growers Association of Pyin Oo Lwin. Solar trainings continue with a 1.2Kwp solar installation for "Helping the Burmese Delta" organization. Developed 'Continuous Flow Through' containers for the worm farm. Planted and harvested our first crop of native red rice - all organically. Started and completed construction of the new Solar Roots Training Center.
•  2019 - Helped organize the public launching of the Natural Growers Association. Harvested 1.5 tons of organic ginger.Hosted many groups of students at our demonstration farm and Training Center - the worm farm being the most popular. Solar trainings continue apace, with visits to Homalin (N.East), Myeik (S.East) and Magway (S.Central).
• 2020 - Taking a year out to check out new areas for Solar Roots activity. First was a month-long visit to Ethiopia, where the need for solar is great. Hopefully, we will return in 2021to install some PV on remote schools.