He Rode Into Colorado in 1972 and Never Left. What Johnny Weiss Started 35+ Years Ago is Still Changing Lives.

In 1972, a young man rode into Colorado on a motorcycle and decided to stay. His name was Johnny Weiss. Nineteen years later, during another difficult period for renewable energy, he co-founded Solar Energy International when his local community college cut their solar program.

He was driven by a simple, radical belief: renewable energy training should be accessible to everyone, regardless of geography, income, or infrastructure.

Johnny lived openly with bipolar II disorder, dyslexia, and a lifelong stutter. None of it slowed him down. He turned potlucks into strategy sessions and front porches into classrooms, and over three decades he helped SEI train more than 150,000 people in over 100 countries. He passed away in July 2025, but the belief he built SEI around is unfinished business.

“The power from the sun belongs to everyone. Solar energy education should too.” – Johnny Weiss

Right now, 775 million people still live without electricity, and 2.3 billion lack reliable power. Federal funding for international clean energy training has been cut back sharply, right when it’s needed most.

Your donation fills that gap.

In many parts of the world, energy access isn’t about charging a car. It’s keeping vaccines cold in a rural clinic, or giving a child light to study after dark. Johnny understood that handing someone a solar panel and walking away never solved that. Education, skills, and local ownership do. That’s what the Johnny Weiss Solar Access for All Initiative funds:

• Empowerment Scholarships: full access to SEI training for students from low-income, Indigenous, rural, and off-grid communities.
• Curriculum Licensing: so nonprofits and vocational schools in underserved regions can teach SEI’s courses at low or no cost.
• The Johnny Weiss Fellowship: mentorship and funding for people building community-scale solar solutions where they live.
• An Open Access Course: SEI’s flagship Renewable Energy for the Developing World class, made tuition-free.

Your gift funds a scholarship, a training session, a fellowship — for someone ready to bring solar energy home to their community, the same way Johnny brought it to his.

Give today, select the Johnny Weiss Solar Access for All Initiative from the dropdown menu, and help carry Johnny’s vision forward.