La Nueva Providencia is a village located just south of San Lucas Toliman on Lake Atitlan. Before 2008, Nueva Providencia and its 50 families had no electricity and no money to even think about getting it. Over the course of a few years, students and mentors worked together to design and implement an off-the-grid electrical system. The 24 solar panels produce enough energy every day to power 13 street lights, all community buildings (including a school, community center, 2 churches, a kitchen, and a mill), and every single home.

 

Our chapter implemented a number of electrical infrastructure in the community:

• 3 lights and an outlet for each family

• 20+ solar panels

• 13 outdoor street lights

• a micro-hydro turbine

• a spring box and turbine house connected by approximately 2000' of buried/concrete-encased PVC and galvanized iron pipe

• meters for each home for the sustainability of the project

 

Lighting up the dark allows residents to work/study later, feel safer when walking outside, and reduces the need for oil. Click here to read an article on our project, written by Isa Mundo, a strong advocate for the improvement of small international communities.