Visitors 19
Modified 16-Jan-22
Created 17-Aug-19
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MadreSelva helps the local communities plan, build, and maintain small-scale microgrids. Small generators generate electricity from local streams; this is distributed to homes, schools, and other buildings in the villages. Projects are small in scale; local communities organize to help plan, help build, then maintain the generators and distribution lines.
Photos in this gallery follow the sequence of our visit. We visited three of the four microgrid projects, seeing the range of the projects.
Each generator system begins with gathering water from local stream(s) and conveying it to a catchment pond, via aqueducts or pipes. Leaves and sand must be kept out of the generator below; several systems exist for keeping them out or removing them from the water.
A pipe carries the water from the catchment area to the generator below. The vertical drop of this pipe provides the head which powers the generator.
The generator, perhaps two meters in length, is housed in a building and monitored continuously by volunteers from the villages. Each village organizes the schedule of volunteers. If there is any problem, the volunteer takes appropriate action. Electricity allows them to have cell phones, which allows them to notify others and ask for help.
With the help of MadreSelva, communities have begun to develop carp ponds near the generation stations. Carp can provide a valuable source of protein. The water is readily available after passing through the generator.
Distribution of the electricity is simple: wires are strung from poles and trees to each house or other user in the community.
The first project did not monitor individuals' electricity use, but charges a monthly fee to each participant. The three subsequent projects meter the electricity used and charge for the use.
A future project could use surplus electricity to help mitigate the cutting of trees for firewood. Cardamom is cash crop for the local communities. (They have discovered this to be a crop they can grow and export profitably.) Local firewood is burned to dry the cardamom. It might be possible to develop electricity-powered driers, which would use the surplus power during the night. This could avoid the gradual destruction of the local forests in the search for firewood.
MadreSelva volunteers assist local villages with more than electricity. The projects build community, strengthen the role and status of women, and have other benefits. Construction costs are underwritten by donations, many from Europe. Ongoing maintenance and operational costs are mostly borne by the local communities. The next gallery shows a regional meeting of representatives from many villages in the area, some served by microgrids, some hoping. They hope to cooperate, regarding microgrids and much more.