In an effort to provide the energy needed to the Yanuca community without the negative repercussions from fossil fuels, Pacific Blue Foundation funded the costs for the installation of a simple solar panel system and an introductory workshop on simple solar panel applications.

The first part of the workshop taught villagers about simple solar panels, their function, cost, efficiency, and maintenance. The second part of the workshop was a hands-on tutorial for setting up and installing simple solar panels.

Andy Hamm holds a Solar Panel System workshop.

Participation was open to all villagers, with twenty Yanucans attending the first part of the workshop. The participants showed interest in the solar panel project and eagerly asked the workshop leader, Andy Hamm, questions.

The second part of the workshop (involving the actual set up of the solar panels) required the help of 40 villagers. Participants learned quickly and could carry out the required tasks with just the initial instruction, a good sign for any future projects.

Villagers install the solar panels on top of the Community Hall.

The village selected one individual to carry out the monthly tasks of wiping the solar panels, checking the system for physical damages, and reporting such information back to Sireli Kago, a Pacific Blue Foundations coordinator. The selected villager will be compensated $5 each time the tasks are performed as motivation to ensure consistency of maintenance.

The solar panel system was set up to not only suit the lighting needs in the Yanuca Community Hall, but also to power laptops and similar devices, with additional lighting capabilities provided in anticipation of an increase in use of the Community Hall.

The workshop was aimed to get villagers involved in renewable energy projects and to train them on the use and set up of solar panel systems so that participants will be able to set up simple household solar systems in the future, perhaps for a more wide-spread solar panel project.