The Solar Player was first released in English and distributed in English‑speaking nations in Africa. Since then, the full content has been expanded to include:

• Spanish

• Portuguese

• Amharic (official language of Ethiopia)

• Creole (language of Haiti)

• Middle Eastern Arabic

• Telugu (India)

Translation work is currently underway in:

• Urdu (Pakistan)

• French

• Chinese

• Additional languages in progress

Solar Players are distributed to qualified local leaders who speak both the tribal dialect and one of the languages available on the device. Using the simple pause/play function, a preacher or teacher can:

• Play a phrase in the available language

• Pause the device

• Translate the phrase into the local dialect

This method allows the teaching to be shared accurately and effectively, even in communities where only tribal dialects are spoken.

The Solar Mission is far more than just a device. The hardware itself is the least expensive part. The real cost comes from:

• Preparing and formatting an audio Bible and hundreds of hours of Bible teaching for compatibility with the unit

• Staff and contract labor for loading, handling, and testing each player

• Recording a spoken menu for every course and lesson

• Translating the curriculum into multiple languages

Another major expense is delivery and training. Units are not mailed; they are hand‑delivered by distribution teams to targeted regions. Key leaders attend seminars where visiting teachers and local brethren demonstrate the Solar Player and train recipients to use it for evangelism, church planting, leadership training, Sunday preaching, and even public school Bible courses.

Each fully loaded Solar Player contains:

• The Old and New Testaments

• World Bible School courses

• The complete SIBI curriculum

• New Life Behavior lessons

• Several hours of gospel hymns

• A one‑hour study on How to Become a Christian

Altogether, that’s more than 430 hours of biblical teaching.

While similar devices exist, none match the quality, volume, and personal care of the Solar Mission. For a $500 one‑time cost, a tool equivalent to an entire preaching school curriculum — providing 8–10 years of biblical teaching without electricity — is placed directly into the hands of a preacher or church leader in a remote village. This is a fraction of what it would cost to send and support missionaries, and even then, Solar Players remain essential to multiply their efforts.

SIBI Solar Players are not for sale. They are given freely to qualified leaders around the world who use them to share the Gospel in their communities.

If you would like one for yourself or your congregation, we ask that you donate to the Solar Mission so another player can be provided to someone in another nation who needs the message of Christ.

The Bible teaching materials loaded onto the Solar Players are available separately for purchase through our bookstore, in both print and digital formats, for personal or congregational study.

Each Solar Player comes with a printed menu listing all of its content. Every course, section, and Bible book is assigned a number.

To locate a specific lesson or passage, the user simply:

• Presses the forward or backward buttons the number of times that corresponds to the desired course, lesson, book, or chapter.

During training seminars, recipients are shown how to navigate the Solar Player and taught practical ways to use the material for maximum impact in ministry.

The SIBI Solar Player is intentionally designed for simplicity, durability, and reliability in remote village settings. Unlike consumer devices, it must withstand harsh conditions and remain usable for years without electricity.

Key features include:

• A sealed unit with a long‑life rechargeable battery, built to last up to 10 years under normal charging conditions

• A water‑ and dust‑resistant speaker, loud enough for a hut or outdoor group of up to 50 people

• Solar power capability, making it usable in thousands of villages worldwide where electricity is unavailable

While it may not look like “cutting‑edge smart technology” in America, the Solar Player is both innovative and effective for the unique environments it serves.

While Solar Players are designed to be durable, any electronic device can occasionally fail. Most issues can be resolved using the reset button built into the unit.

If a device is defective and cannot be reset, SIBI will replace the Solar Player. Because we have partner preacher training schools in most of the regions where Solar Players are distributed, replacement units are readily available to ensure ministry work continues without interruption.

Each year, Solar Player distributions are planned for a set of target countries. Within those nations, units are provided to preachers, missionaries, congregations, schools, orphanages, and other sponsored recipients.

We welcome donor suggestions for specific recipients within our annual target nations, because our goal is to place Solar Players in the hands of those who will use them most fruitfully.

Special requests beyond the yearly target countries are sometimes possible, since SIBI maintains connections with missionaries, ministries, schools, and congregations worldwide.