Peru - Solar Panel

Since 2004, KE leader Val Pikethly has installed over 600 solar panels in small mountain villages of Northern Peru. Past projects include installing solar panels in the villages of Pocpa and Pomapata, in the Huayhuash region (2004), Quisuar village in the Cordillera Blanca region and Tupacamaru village in Huayhuash (2005) and Queropalca in the Cordillera Huayhuash of Peru (2006). 

In June 2007, Val installed 120 Solar Panels in the village of Tayapurca area of the Cordillera Blanca. It takes 5 days on foot to reach these villages, neither had any lighting other than candles before the solar panels were installed. In Tayapurca, the villagers are now running women's and children's health classes in the village community sentre which now has electric! Juniper Trust contributed $8300 to fund this project.

The lanterns are all-portable and each one holds a diode board containing 21 LED lights in a housing about the size of a loaf of bread. The lights last approximately 8 years and the internal rechargeable batteries last around 5 years. The villagers are expected to collect money from each household to pay for replacement batteries at the end of this time. The lights require 7 to 8 hours charge in daylight (direct sun is not required) and will provide approx. 4 to 5 hours of light per night. The lights are cleaner, healthier to use and overall cheaper than candles or kerosene. Using LED diodes, they are also very efficient and draw a fraction of the charge of ordinary incandescent lights. The lights have been a success in the villages, especially amongst the children who have the opportunity to study in better light.