Remote "Electrification" in the Rural Philippines - the Solar Method

In coordination with the Australian and Philippine governments, BP Solar installed one of the world's largest solar power projects (the Municipal Solar Infrastructure Project - MSIP) in the Philippines between 1997 through 2001--with ongoing imrpovements to the facilities. The Australian Government provided a grant and soft-loan combination of about $27 million to fund the project for which BP Solar provided design, training, engineering, and installation services after the Australian and Philippine governments confirmed the intended locations for the facilities.

The installation provides lighting for homes, schools, and community centers, as well as remote telecommunication, fresh drinking water, and vaccine refrigeration for about 721,140 individuals in 11 provinces, 53 municipalities, and 435 villages in the most remote and otherwise un-electrified areas of Mindanao and Visayas.

BP installed 1,145 packaged solar systems in the 435 villages in order to upgrade four district hospitals, 11 rural health centers, 104 village health centers, 260 village drinking water supply systems, six municipal halls, 201 village halls, 266 schools, and lighting for 289 communal areas.

A key factor is that before starting this project, the government and BP representatives prepared the villagers for the project by hosting community assemblies to introduce the project concept and the basics of solar electricity generation. Community groups were formed to manage the systems, and training was provided to 2,251 villagers so they could maintain and repair the facilities. After the installation, follow-up visits were conducted to ensure that the facilities were operating effectively without any troubles.

If more systems like this were installed through joint ventures with governments and private industries, there would be a lot less dependance on oil and other fossil fuels.

At the same time, although governments (federal, state, and city) should get on board with alternate, renewable energy sources for their facilities such as the Philippine installation, it's still up to us as individuals to investigate and implement our own energy-saving and alternate energy applications--whether it be solar photovoltaics, solar water heating, solar air heating, wind-power generation, and other sources.

(The BP Solar Project office is in Mandaue City, Cebu--and the BPPI's main office is in Makati City.)

Get Youngsters Involved - Education Works!

Why don't more schools have programs in either their geography or science classes that teach about alternate energy?

Different energy sources are used in different parts of the world. Some countries, particularly those near the equator, can readily make good use of highly available solar energy. Other countries may have to use a combination of solar, geothermal, hydro, and other energy sources to provide the power needed to keep a home warm or cool and to provide the electricity to power things such as lights, computers, radios, and so on.

By learning about the limitations of various kinds of environmental power sources, our kids can be better informed about their own choices in energy usage and conservation.

Not only should they learn about how to read an electric meter, but they should also learn about electricity--what it is and how it works in making things like radios, TVs, computers, stoves, ovens, and otehr modern conveniences possible.

A course that covered solar water heating, solar cooking, solar electricity generation could be easily incorporated into a basic science class, or physics class, or even a geography class, although the science class would make the most sense.

I've covered some more of these thoughts in my Squidoo lens on Energy Independence. Drop on by and visit. And pass this on to your friends who also may be getting frustrated with the price of gas and the chunk it takes out of their income each month!

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