Sun lights off-grid communities in Nicaragua
Imagine trying cook on a wood fire in the dark, your kitchen filling with choking fumes from a kerosene lamp. Then the lamp runs out and next day you have to travel 20km to get more fuel. That is the routine for many families in rural areas of Nicaragua because half the population isn’t connected to the electricity grid.
This is where a project in Masaya run by the Association for Community Integration and Development (Spanish acronym - ADIC) is trying to make a difference. Working with the Leicester-Masaya Link Group (LMLG), it helps farming families by installing basic solar panel kits to generate electricity. Each kit provides enough electricity to serve three to four light bulbs and a socket for a few hours use of a TV or radio.
A kit costs about $700, and the families repay this over 5 to 7 years. The monthly cost is similar to what they would pay for mains electricity – if they could get it. The difference is they get a system which they own and is highly reliable.
In the latest phase of the project, backed by significant funding from British housing associations, solar electricity has arrived in part of the community of Niquinohomo, south of Masaya. A trial kit of a solar panel, battery and control panel was first installed in the home of Don Enrique, and other villagers then signed up for the project. Now almost everyone has solar panels.
Completion of the work in Niquinohomo means that ADIC and LMLG have reached their initial target of installing 100 kits, benefiting over 500 people. Next they plan to extend the work to another community north of Masaya, which is remote from the national grid.
The project not only benefits poor farming families but is very important environmentally. Nicaragua produces more than 80 percent of its electricity from oil-fired power stations. The fuel is costly to import and highly polluting when burned. The government is increasing the system’s capacity, but many rural communities won’t benefit unless the privatised electricity grid is extended – which is unlikely to happen.
Solar energy has so far been seen as mainly a luxury alternative for wealthier families who can afford the initial cost. But this ignores the fact that power needs in rural areas can often be met with very small solar kits. They are relatively expensive, but not if the cost is spread over a period of years.
The evidence of Masaya’s “Proyecto Sol” (Sun Project) is that people are initially sceptical about solar energy but are quickly convinced when they see that it works even on cloudy days. By keeping repayment costs down and having a reliable means of collecting the money, ADIC will have reinvested about $11,000 from its payment fund by the end of the year. Once it has wired up 200 kits, it should earn enough from repayments to install between 25 and 30 new ones each year. This is sustainability in more than one sense of the word!
