SAN MATEO, Calif., Dec. 17, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Following the one year anniversary of the company's initial public offering, SolarCity® (Nasdaq:SCTY) today launched the Give Power Foundation™ to build a cleaner, more sustainable future by providing solar energy to those in need. For every megawatt of residential solar power that SolarCity installs in 2014, the company will bring light to a community by donating a solar power system and battery combination to a school without access to electricity.

Approximately 291 million children attend primary schools that lack electricity globally, and 1.4 billion people around the world do not have access to power.* Through the Give Power Foundation, SolarCity will bring clean energy to communities across the globe, with initial recipients expected to be in Haiti, Mali, Malawi and Nepal.

By giving the gift of light, SolarCity will enable schools in remote locations to serve as community gathering places in the evening, and foster continuing education for adults. The solar system will charge a battery pack to keep the school lit at night – allowing adults and others who aren't able to learn during the day the freedom to convene at night in a well-lit environment.

"The United Nations has set the ambitious goal of ensuring that everyone in the world has access to electricity by 2030, while fighting climate change, and we are deeply committed to making this happen through the Give Power Foundation," said Hayes Barnard, SolarCity's Chief Revenue Officer and President of Give Power Foundation. "Now every SolarCity customer will play a part in giving light to a community in need."

The Foundation is partnering with buildOn, an international nonprofit organization that builds schools in developing countries and runs afterschool service programs in United States high schools, to help deliver power to communities in need. The Foundation will continue exploring and developing new partnerships with international organizations and social enterprises to help serve additional communities without electricity.

SolarCity's Give Power Foundation is a California non-profit, public benefit corporation with anticipation of being granted exempt status as a 501c3 organization in 2014.

By going solar with SolarCity, you can help schools across the world gain access to electricity through the Give Power Foundation. To learn more about the Give Power Foundation including how to get involved, please like SolarCity on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and visit www.solarcity.com/givepower to register for updates.

If you are an organization that delivers products or services for schools in the developing world and are interested in a partnership, contact us at givepower@solarcity.com.

This release contains forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, statements regarding future donations, future projects and partners, the Give Power Foundation and its non-profit status and assumptions relating to the foregoing. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which such performance or results will be achieved, if at all. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward looking statements. You should read the section entitled "Risk Factors" in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which identifies certain of these and additional risks and uncertainties. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

* SOURCE: According to the United Nations Development Programme.