Experience Solar Culture In Nicaragua

An opportunity to offer your hands, heart, and a unique gift: Electricity!

One doesn't often think twice about turning on the light switch. But for more than 60% of Nicaragua's rural population, this is not even possible: they have no electricity. For many, the cost of purchasing an electrical lighting system is way beyond their means. A farm laborer fortunate enough to have work all month in a country with massive unemployment makes about $40. His family in the countryside either goes without the luxury of light, or spends $8-$12 per month on candles and kerosene. Alternatively, some communities have managed to obtain noisy diesel generators that are silenced when they run out of expensive scarce fuel, while others use old car batteries, requiring money to recharge before they fail within months.

In 1996 a group of third-year electrical engineering students at the National Engineering University in Managua (UNI), saw a need without a means. So together with their enthusiastic professor they created one: GRUPO FENIX. They are bringing electricity to Nicaragua's countryside: not electricity born of large generators and high-voltage power lines, but of an abundant Nicaraguan natural resource -- the sun. FENIX is supported by a diverse assortment of individuals who have a personal and/or professional vision of providing the world with renewable energy resources. Dr. Richard Komp, President of Sunwatt Corp., Susan Kinne, Associate Professor of Electronics Engineering at UNI, and a group of young engineers combine their expertise and resources to make this project possible. Bridging the gap between North and Central America, Grupo FENIX gives everyone a chance to grow and give. For more information on this work, please check out our Internet site at http://www.grupofenix-solar.org .

FENIX invites interested parties to participate directly in its development and vision. We offer an 11-day workshop/tour in which participants learn about solar energy systems, study applications specific to Central America, visit renewable energy installations, and install a PV lighting system in a rural village. The program includes recreational and cultural activities as well as excursions. The next 11-day workshop will run from the 30th of July to the 9th of August , 2002. The cost of the entire trip, excluding air fare and airport expenses, is $850 per person, which includes a $200 subsidy towards a solar equipment for the village where we will work. The course will be taught in English (although Spanish ability greatly enhances your experience of Nicaragua).

The Grupo FENIX has been manufacturing and installing small photovoltaic systems in remote villages in Nicaragua. The entire system, consisting of a 35 to 50 Watt PV module, fluorescent lamps, a deep-cycle storage battery, charge controller and wiring is made by these pioneers in Nicaragua from local parts (except for the solar cells and some other special electronic parts). The system are currently being donated or subsidized and we are working out the mechanism for them to be sold to cash-poor rural dwellers on a long-term time payment arrangement geared to their limited means. FENIX is engaged in other renewable energy activities, such as designing, installing and maintaining village scale PV systems for rural health clinics and working with land mine victims to train them to be solar practitioners. Future plans include developing affordable solar water pumps and solar water heaters for small productive uses.

THE SCHEDULE:
Monday, July 29, 2002
Arrive in Nicaragua and be picked up at the airport. Reception and settling into the barrio (neighborhood) where we will stay in Managua. The housing is modest; participants will have an option for fancier accommodations in a local guest house or motel (for an additional fee).

Tuesday, July 30
Orientation. Tour of the barrio and surrounding area. This is in the heart of the new center of Managua, and universities, shops, art gallery and other cultural features are located within walking distance. Meet Grupo Fenix participants, see how Barrio residents create local employment opportunities, help cook a solar lunch and visit local Solentiname Art Gallery.

Wednesday, July 31 through Friday, August 2
Courses on solar energy at the UNI. These will include the history and philosophy of using solar energy, passive solar architecture, active solar systems for heating water and air, a half day session to build solar box cookers, and finally sessions on photovoltaics, from theory of operation of solar cells to actually soldering solar cells together to make small PV modules.

Saturday, August 3
Free day in the Barrio. Optional workshops and historic walk to the old center of Managua and the Malecon on Lake Managua.

Sunday, August 4
Free day, Optional sightseeing trip to nearby beautiful places may be arranged.

Monday, August 5 through Wednesday August 7
Leave for the remote village with renewable energy site visits on the way. Reception in the village and first cultural exchange. Settle into sleeping accommodations in simple village homes. Tuesday, install Fenix photovoltaic system on village building. Make/Use the solar box cookers donated to the village. Evening, celebrate the light in the night and more cultural exchange , it is appropriate here if you have something cultural to share; story, history, song, juggling, dance. Next day return to Managua, possibly visiting interesting places like Ciudad Dario or Estili, rest in the late afternoon and reflect on our trip.

Thursday, August 8
Visit historic Old Granda and Masaya. Visit solar wood drier , shopping for handicrafts then fiesta in the evening!

Friday, August 9
Final class session at the UNI, where we will review the various solar experiences and go into those aspects of solar energy of most interest to the participants. Friday afternoon is the official end of the course, you may schedule your departure flight for Saturday or stay on in Nicaragua for a few extra days, at a slight extra cost.

Optional Extra activities: Saturday August 10, 9:00 AM - 12:00
Sabado Solar. Grupo FENIX's monthly continuing education seminar, attended by local groups and individuals active and/or interested in renewable energy. (Free, or $1.00 donation)

Second weekend, Sat. August 10/ Sun. August 11
Optional overnight eco-tour to a beautiful area in Nicaragua. (Additional cost $100).

ADDITIONAL DATES:
The course will be taught again from January 7 through 17, 2003 and repeated the following August. The price may rise slightly in 2003.

THE INSTRUCTORS:
Richard Komp, Ph.D., the principal instructor, is the author of PRACTICAL PHOTOVOLTAICS and has been working on solar cells since 1960. He has taught numerous courses and workshops on solar energy all over the world; is currently the president of the Maine Solar Energy Association and has a small photovoltaics company, SunWatt Corporation. Richard also teaches graduate courses on Solar Energy at the UNI.

Susan Kinne, initiator of the solar cultural/course, has been on staff at the UNI for the past 11 years, originally teaching the introductory hands on course for electrical and electronic engineers, currently as the director of the Alternative Energy Sources Project. Susan has worked in the manufacture of silicon wafers for electronic integrated circuits at Cincinnati Milicron and is the organizer of the Grupo Fenix. Many of the engineers working on photovoltaics in Nicaragua (as well as a good number of electric utility engineers) are her former students.

Nicaraguan Grupo FENIX staff consists of pregrad and recently graduated engineers and technicians who have made renewable energy their life mission. The staff has recently grown to include the land mine survivors who were trained as solar technicians as part of the Canadian project directed to FENIX through Falls Brook Centre in New Brunswick.

THE COST:
The total cost of the course, including all meals and accommodations in Nicaragua, is $850. This includes local transportation costs, the fee to the UNI for the course, and a copy of Dr. Komp's book. $200 of the course fee will go to subsidize FENIX photovoltaic systems and solar ovens installed in the villages, and an additional $100 will go to improvement funds in the barrio and villages. The extra cost for staying on longer should amount to around $25 per day, depending on the type of activities and accommodations.

PAYMENT:
A $50 deposit by July 8th 2002 will save you a place in the course, which will be limited to total of 15 participants. All checks should be made out to SKYHEAT ASSOCIATES, the non-profit US group that Richard Komp has been associated with since 1974. The checks can be sent to Richard Komp's address.

AIR TRAVEL:
We can recommend a "Green" travel agency, EARTH ROUTES, travel@earthroutes.net , 207-326-8635, RFD 1, Box 22-B, Penobscot ME 04476. Each airline ticket plants three trees through SeedTree.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Richard J. Komp, Skyheat Associates, RR 2 Box 7751, Jonesport ME 04649,
e-mail: sunwatt@juno.com ,phone: 207-497-2204,
Susan Kinne, e-mail: skinne1@juno.com
Barbara Atkinson, e-mail: lightstream@igc.org .
Website: http://www.grupofenix-solar.org