Press Release from the Guatemala Ministry of Energy & Mines
Guatemala, August 14, 2007

Solar PV Project Inaugurated in Guatemala

The Ministry of Energy and Mines, through the Energy Department, has developed the Residential Lighting Project for the village of Guayabales in Chiquimulilla, Department of Santa Rosa. The purpose of this project and others are to foster development in isolated rural communities by providing electricity through solar technology. This project was made possible through the Department’s financial counterpart NRECA International, Ltd. (National Rural Electric Cooperative Association International Ltd. of the U.S.) by means of the Electricity for Progress Trust Fund.

The Project was formally turned over to the members of the Guayabales community by the Minister of Energy and Mines, Carmen Urízar Hernández, on August 13, 2007. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Vivek Talvadkar, Senior Vice-President, NRECA International, Ltd., Víctor Araujo, Head of the National Directorate of Energy, and members of the Guayabales community.

The members of the Community testified that these solar panels would enable them to have better lighting condition for the village and, thus, end the use of candles and kerosene lamps which are expensive, ineffective, and can cause respiratory problems. Other benefits include being able to conduct activities at home or work during non-daylight hours, and community members hope to be able to initiate small scale businesses to generate extra income.

The Project provided solar home systems to 43 homes, with approximately 220 direct and indirect beneficiaries.

Minister Urízar Hernández, stated that this Project is included in the framework of the overall vision of the Government to provide basic electric service to communities in rural areas that are located far from grid-based distribution systems where houses are highly dispersed, feature low energy consumption, and are usually not attractive to the incumbent electricity distributors.

It must be stressed that the project development methodology requires the user to take responsibility for the sustainability of the equipment and materials. The Project was supported by NRECA’s Electricity for Progress Trust Fund, which provided funding to the beneficiaries, and the Ministry, which loaned the equipment to the beneficiaries. Once the community receives grid-based electricity, project beneficiaries are required to return the equipment so that it can be used in a similar capacity in other rural communities.

Equipment Installed

• 43 Solar Panels of 50 watts
• 43 (115) ampere-hour (Ah) deep cycle batteries
• 43 Voltage regulators
• 129 light bulbs and
• All the necessary accessories system operation

Investment

Social Communications Unit
Government of the Republic of Guatemala

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