Lao students set up solar-energy project to empower rural areas
The energy and Climate Policy Institute (ECPI Korea) has trained staff and students in Xayaboury on how to set up and operate a 60W solar-power system to produce renewable energy in a remote area of the province.
The trainees were graduates, students and a teacher at the Integrated Technical and Vocational School in Xayaboury. The trainers were Dr Young-joo Song, a volunteer with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and officials from the National University of Laos.
They taught the students not only how to assemble a 60W solarpower system but also how to operate all the equipment involved, according to a handout issued by the project on January 7.
The training took place from December 22 to 28 in Namkha village, Xayaboury district, and was the first village-level project carried out by the ECPI.
The village has been hooked up to the electricity grid since February 2015 but due to poverty and budget limitations, 28 households, Namkha village primary school, the teachers’ dormitory and the village office were not connected.
The training was part of an ECPI project supported by KOICA. ECPI provided solar-power systems for 16 households and other locations that did not have electricity.
The following activities were carried out under the project to create a more sustainable operational model in the village: making an agreement to protect the systems and making sure people pay the monthly fee to the maintenance fund; forming a Village Energy Committee to organise the collection of the maintenance fund from villagers and buy maintenance equipment if required; and selecting a village technician to carry out repairs and maintenance.
This was an opportunity for people to develop an interest in the concept of an energy self-reliant community for the sustainable development of local villages as well as the achievement of having built the second laboratory (the first laboratory is at NUOL) for solarpower system production in Laos.
ECPI has continued to implement the Supporting Renewable Energy System and Training Programme in Laos through the practical activity of climate justice since 2009. These activities were reinforced in 2012 when KOICA supported the ECPI project.
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