Project Trip Report Feb 2007

Trip Report
Installation of Seven Household Solar Electric Systems
In Three Communities Near Matehuala, San Luis Potosi, Mexico
Jason West
February, 2007
The Hernández-Guell family with their new solar panel: Julian (18), Francisco (7),
Maseodonio, Alejandra Guadalupe (5), and Hermalinda. Not shown are three other
children, who spend their weeks in school at a nearby city and stay in this house on
weekends: Patricia (22), Jose Luis (14), and Eduardo (12). The town of Maravillas is
only about 15 km from Matehuala, the largest city in this region, and Maravillas is
connected to the electric grid. However, this family lives about 4 km from the rest of the
town of Maravillas, and it is too costly to connect them to the grid.
Be sure to thank all the Americans who gave donations.
Rodriguez
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- Maseodonio Hernandez-
Most rural families in this region make their livelihoods caring for goats, which they sell
for meat, and milk daily for cheese. Goats are their main sources of income, and much of
their days are spent taking their goats to pasture.
Federico Martínez (right) is an agricultural engineer working with the Mexican
Foundation for Rural Development (FMDR). Here he is working with Maseodonio and
Julian to inventory the goats in their herd. The Solar Mexico initiative is a collaboration
with FMDR. Representatives of the FMDR office in Matehuala selected the families to
support, introduced me to those families, and helped with all the logistics for the project.
They visit these families every week to aid with raising goats and other development
projects. The FMDR representatives gave me a ride to the villages, and completed their
work while I installed the solar electric systems.
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I never thought I d have light in my own home.
Valdemar Hernández
The Hernández-Robledo extended family, who live in two homes next to one another,
and received two solar electric systems (from left): Montserrat (4), Maria de la Luz,
Maria del Rosario (2), Luis Alberto (9), Juventino, Esperanza (mother of Juventino, and
grandmother of the kids), Alejandro (6), Pablo (husband of Esperanza), and Valdemar
(brother of Pablo). Not shown in the picture are Pablo Jr. (15, see next page), and
Eliadoro Hernández (brother of Pablo Sr.). These two homes are also about 4 km from
the town of Maravillas, where these children will go to school until they become old
enough to attend school in Matehuala.
The two older men, Pablo and Valdemar, worked with me to install these two systems,
and were joking and laughing with me the entire time.
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Pablo Hernández-Espinoso (15) lives here with his family. Unfortunately, Pablo is
learning disabled, but works with his father and cousins in the field. While Valdemar,
Pablo Sr. and I installed the solar electric system, Pablo played his accordion and sang for
us.
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Maria de la Luz preparing tortillas the traditional way. She grinds the corn by hand and
then cooks it over the fire behind her. Tortillas in this region are usually made with
traditional strains of corn that the families grow themselves.
Tortillas and beans are the main staples of every meal, and all of the families here made
sure I was fed very well. In addition to tortillas and beans, most meals would include
goat cheese and salsa, and it is common to eat using the tortillas and not use utensils.
Sometimes the meals would also include other foods produced on the farm: eggs, cheese
from cows milk, squash, honey, nopales (cactus) and occasionally lamb, goat, pork, and
beef. They also buy some food: rice, noodles, and avocado. They treat their guests very
well, and would often offer me Coca-Cola (rare in these communities) to drink.
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Welcome to Charquillo, where I installed the next three solar electric systems. The
Delabra-Izquierdo family lives here in a small two-room house: Ricardo (on left),
Cenaida, Ricardo (7 months), and Miguel Angel (3). Also shown are Ricardo s parents,
Mariana and Jose Angel (on right), who live next door, and Rosendo Limón-Morales who
helped install the system. This family plans to build a kitchen, and will connect a third
light when their kitchen is built.
Charquillo is very remote at least 20 km from the nearest town or connection to the
electric grid. Of the 14 homes in Charquillo, we installed three solar electric systems,
leaving three homes still without electricity.
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Miguel Angel Delabra-Izquierdo and me with baby goats. Miguel Angel is like any 3
year old he would only stare at me for the first two hours, but a few hours later we were
best friends.
Two of the families offered me baby goats to thank me for installing their electric
systems (I m serious!). I thanked them for the offer, but said I couldn t take them back
on the plane.
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Eustacio Morales-Acosta (left) lives in Charquillo by himself, and his house received
solar electricity for the first time. Ricardo Delabra, Rosendo Limón-Morales, and Jose
Angel Delabra worked with us to install the system.
Charquillo has an interesting history. In the 1800 s Charquillo was a single ranch, owned
by a wealthy landowner, who reportedly didn t pay his workers well. Later the wealthy
landowner left, and the land was taken over by the workers. Around town, you can still
see the remains of the 19th century ranch as large crumbling adobe and stone structures.
In December 1992, tragedy struck Charquillo. The simple heating system in the local
church malfunctioned, and 30 people died of asphyxiation. Roughly a quarter of the
remote community died all at once.
In 2005, the town made use of the 19th century well (which was once powered by mules),
and installed a solar electric pumping station, with most of the funds coming from the
state government. This gives Charquillo a more reliable water source than most other
communities in this region. I d like to see if we can use donations to the Solar Mexico
initiative to help other communities buy solar water pumping systems.
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How do you connect these again? Each solar electric system we subsidized included a 50
Watt solar panel, a deep cycle battery (like a car battery but designed for solar electric
systems), 3 fluorescent lights, and wires and switches to connect everything. The
controller (under my arm) controls the flow of electricity from the solar panel to the
battery and then to the whole house. Most of the work involved nailing wires, switches,
and lights to the walls or ceiling (usually made of adobe), to connect the three lights. I
was fortunate that all families worked with me to install the solar electric systems, which
made the work go faster, but more importantly, gave me the opportunity to explain how
the systems worked and how to solve problems that may arise.
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Rosendo Limón-Morales connecting the light in his kitchen. Also shown are his wife
Ofelia and Ricardo Delabra.
The solar panel charges the battery every day, providing several hours of light every
night before the battery runs down. Most families also run a radio or small television
with the solar electric system. Several families told me that they used to take a car
battery into town to pay to charge it, and then would run their small television on it, but
would only do so very sparingly. They emphasized that the solar electric system is very
reliable, providing service every day. It gives them a much better opportunity to do
chores or homework at night, and many families will play the radio all day. They also
stressed the money they would save on candles.
The solar electric systems cost about $700 each, of which each family paid 20%. Most of
the cost is for the solar panel, which comes with a 20-year warrantee. The batteries will
need to be replaced about every four years, and the fluorescent lights are expected to last
about five years.
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Rosendo Limón-Morales (holding solar panel) lives in this small two-room house with
his wife Ofelia (red shirt) and two daughters, Adriana (12) and Griselda (10), who attend
school in another town and live here on the weekends. Also shown are Jose Angel
Delabra, Gabriel Delabra, and Ricardo Delabra, who helped with the installation.
Leonardo Tello (on the right) is a medical doctor who works for FMDR. Because of the
help these men offered, all three installations in Charquillo were completed very quickly,
in a little over one day.
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I had a one-day break between installations and went to the only real tourist attraction in
this part of Mexico. Real de Catorce was a Spanish city among the silver mines high in
the mountains before it was nearly abandoned a century ago. Now it serves mainly as a
destination for faithful Mexicans to pay homage to St. Francis, and for curious tourists.
Here the faithful have lined the walls of the old cathedral with testaments to miracles or
blessings from St. Francis. Real de Catorce, far from any other town, has the feeling that
it is stuck in the past, and recently was the setting for two movies, The Mexican and
Bandidas .
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The Hernández-Ortega family with their new solar panel (from left): Sandra Karina (12),
Gavina, Rodolfo Alejandro (6), Rita Lizbeth (9 months), Rodolfo, Diana (10), and Lucera
Guadalupe (9). The family lives in Salitrillos, another community far from the electric
grid. Since there is no school in Salitrillos, the four oldest children attend school
elsewhere and I was lucky to be there on a Saturday to meet them.
The father recently spent three years in the United States, working in construction in
Houston and Memphis to raise money to support his family. Rodolfo said he returned to
Mexico to be with his family and to live the life of a farmer in the communities he knew
as a child. During my time in these communities, I met many people who had relatives
who are now in the US, and even some who had visited family in the US for a few days.
But Rodolfo was the first person I had met who worked in the US and returned to
Mexico. He doesn t plan to go back to the US.
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The road to Salitrillos.
I plan to continue leading the Solar Mexico initiative, helping rural Mexican families
while demonstrating the promise of clean renewable energy. I hope to return to Mexico
in a year or two with donations to subsidize more solar electric systems. In the short
term, donations will be used to subsidize solar HotPot ovens (see
www.nonprofitpages.com/solarmexico/tech.html). In 2005, I helped arrange for
demonstrations of the HotPot in two communities in this region families in these
communities use the HotPot daily, and I and my colleagues at FMDR think this is a very
cost-effective way of helping many families reducing labor andexposure to indoor
smoke, and preserving the desert environment.
Thanks to the many people who provided donations for this project, without which this
project would not be possible. I want to also thank my friends and colleagues at the
Mexican Foundation for Rural Development, in the Matehuala office, particularly Adrián
Cruz-Cazares, and Rodolfo Mireles in Mexico City. Joe Lee has done a fantastic job
designing and maintaining the project website. And thanks to many others for their
encouragement and interesting conversations about renewable energy.
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