May 2008 Archives

A number of you have asked us whether we're also interested in other forms of renewable energy. While our main focus is definitely on solar power, we are of course very interested in using other sources of renewable energy if these are appropriate to the local environment.

For instance, Patagonia, in southern Argentina, has lots of wind. That's why we're interested in hybrid solar and wind systems. Below is a photo of a prototype wind turbine developed by our partners in Patagonia:

It's housed in a small workshop at the back of the nuclear reactor site in Bariloche. That's because the head of our partner organisation there used to be the chief scientist of the nuclear reactor before he moved into social enterprise and renewable energy many years ago. Since then, he's harnessed the support of the other nuclear engineers and workshops to help with his new renewable energy projects. Excellent!

We've been developing plans for a microsolar programme in Southern Argentina. It's extremely exciting stuff. Patagonia is known for its amazing scenery, but few people realise that there is lots of poverty in the region. Access to electricity is also limited in the rural areas.

So we're teaming up with Gustavo Gennuso, a social entrepreneur who is very active in Bariloche in Patagonia. He already runs a network of schools and appropriate technology projects and is the former Chief Scientist of the nuclear reactor in Bariloche. He's now a specialist in renewable energy and gets volunteer assistance from engineers who still work at the nuclear reactor. That's pretty cool!

Our plan is to work with Gustavo to train disadvantaged youth to build and sell microsolar products, such as solar lanterns, solar radios and solar chargers for mobile phones.

Would you like to support this? Then click on the 'support this project' button and donate now!