Location: San Antonio De Upa, Nicaragua
Cost: $3,000
Date Started: May 27, 2014
Date Completed: May 29, 2014
Major Donors: Strata Solar
Partners: Suni Solar, SCSRN
Summary
A productive, reliable community center is crucial for a community to grow through education and encourages community members to interact through cultural gatherings. A lack of electricity can really limit the flexibility of these buildings.
This was the case for Casa del Movimiento Comunal in San Ramon, Nicaragua. The center did not have reliable electricity because of frequent local power outages, and a quality light system that did not emit strong enough light.
Thanks to collaboration with United Solar Initiative, Strata Solar, Suni Solar, and Appalachian State University’s Department of Technology and Environmental Design, these factors will no longer be an issue. By installing 15 LED lights and 3-80W photovoltaic panels, the community center now has reliable lighting and electricity.
The community members and leaders of the center were ecstatic about the installation. Since the completion of the installation, the center has been holding night classes with students through its Young Life program.
The final product was beneficial for everyone involved. Appalachian students learned to apply what they learned in the classroom, the community received a sustainable lighting source, and Suni Solar learned from USI personnel ways to improve the installation process.
Voices from the Community
“The electricity bill will be so much lower now, it will made the expenses of the center to be lower. Now, we have clean energy, and we depend less in oil.”
“All the groups that have visited us had liked the system. We as Casa Comunal are the pioneers of using solar panels here in this city. This system has a good impact for us. Now, we have meetings at nights, sometimes theater presentation. This building is a very important community center in this city, that is why this system has so many benefits for all the population here. “ – Don Nelson Soza, Director of Communal House
“We as young life, we have all our meetings here in the Communal House, we have between 40-50 members. Most of us are between 15-28 years old. We have meetings three times a week where we have activities.” – Gerald Abraham Hernandez Blandon, Coordinator of Young Life, San Ramon
About our Partners
Sister Communities of San Ramon
SCSRN, a collaboration between San Ramón, Nicaragua and its partner communities in the United States, provides educational opportunities and people-to-people connections through:
- Developing education projects which address community-identified needs in San Ramón.
- Promoting Eco-tourism, hands-on cultural immersion travel, community service and experiential learning.
Suni Solar
Suni Solar is a solar company based in Managua, Nicaragua dedicated to the design and installation of renewable energy systems. Since being founded in August 1999, Suni Solar has developed vast experience in photovoltaic solar energy in its various applications to meet the basic needs of the market with high-quality products and personalized service.
