solar installation



the "road" up to the school,
photo by Gerri Barr



Tzanjomel school



the second school where we worked – remember boat, walk, truck, trampoline, hike into the mountains? – was in a tiny village called Tzanjomel.  there, we installed solar power.  I didn’t spend as much time at this location as I did at the natural building/stove site, so my comments will be fairly limited.

our solar panels, photo by Tom Egel

we installed four solar panels on the roof of the school, then wired them throughout the building for lights, switches and outlets.  luckily, some of the internal wiring had been done when the school was built, in hopes of someday getting power. 

control panel for the system

a simple solar system entails panels to collect the energy, batteries to store it, a load (such as lights) to use it, and an inverter/controller to manage it all.  a system can be as small as a book-sized panel and single light bulb, or large enough to power a house or business.  this system was relatively small, as it could run several light bulbs with enough spare power to charge a laptop or run a radio or other small appliance. 

a little math:  each panel puts out 40 watts.  with at least 4 hours of sun every day (more in reality), that equals 640 watt-hours. we installed a bright light in every room, and two in one room.  the lights draw 5 watts each.  that means 6 lights x 5 watts x 10 hours of darkness per day = 300 watt-hours.  even if the people needed all the lights on, all night long, every day, there are still 340 watt-hours left over to power computers or small devices each day!

local family, photo by Gerri Barr

in a small maya village, that much power is an amazing thing.  even one light bulb is enough for a child to study and a mother to weave at night, making a real impact on their finances and future.  in this case, it is a whole school!  in addition to uses for the students directly, the school can now be used as a community resource for meetings, clinics, and any other uses the families may have for it.

as a matter of fact, on the last day just as we were about to throw the switch for the first time, a woman came in and asked whether we would be finished by the next day.  they had a clinic planned and needed the electricity.  I guess word travels fast!



our crew, photo by Tom Egel