Expanding Energy Access & Knowledge in Peru

Dear GlobalGiving Donors,

It’s been a busy start to the year for the renewables team and EcoSwell as a whole, and we are delighted to have so many new updates to share with you from our renewables team, as part of our project: ‘Expanding Energy Access and Knowledge in Peru’. In our last report, we shared ongoing maintenance work on our PV systems and cookstoves, which has been continuing and expanding, and we also introduced our new renewable energy coordinator for the Cajamarca project. In addition to this, we completed a solar PV system for Casa EcoSwell, progressed on the Energy in Schools project, and conducted a site visit to the Buenos Aires resilient medical centre project. Since then, there has been a lot of progress across all these fronts, including another visit to the latter project:

Visit to Buenos Aires UPS project, maintenance and operation workshop

The team returned last week from a site visit to the Buenos Aires Medical Centre UPS Project, where they supervised installation of the solar panels. In addition, new DC electrical inverters were installed, alongside new lightbulbs and surge protectors. To ensure the centre can stay connected, we also strengthened the WiFi signal throughout the building by installing a TP-link extender, and rerouted the ethernet cables. This will ensure the medical centre can continue to provide essential care round-the-clock for its rural population.

Medical centre PV maintenance and cookstove maintenance

Starting off the year, we focused on maintenance to ensure our impact can continue to grow. First off, our renewables team visited the Lobitos Medical Post last week to carry out maintenance activities on the solar resilient power system we installed. Upon inspection, we identified several issues, and we plan to undertake a staff retraining session to rectify them. A site visit to our system at the Talara Medical Centre found that it remained in good condition, great news considering it was our first ever installation of a system of this type. Additionally, we visited the first improved cookstoves we installed in Piedritas in 2024 to monitor early signs of wear and tear, and to plan preventative maintenance to avoid any future breakdowns. We did this hand-in-hand with our beneficiaries, which will be detailed in the next section.

Cookstoves - visit to Carmen and conducting interviews

In January, the renewables team carried out maintenance on a cookstove that was previously built for Carmen, one of our local beneficiaries here in Lobitos. At the same time, a previous research intern conducted an interview with her, with the feedback being used to conduct our work. The team extended the cookstove’s chimney by cutting a hole in the metal roof, as well as installing metal rods to support the pots, and reshaping the pot holes. We also covered the chimney with waterproof paint and installed a small protective roof on top, to ensure the stove remains sheltered from the elements. For the final touches, a new layer of mud was applied and the drawings on the cookstove’s side were redone. We always aspire to communicate with and learn from our beneficiaries so that our solutions can continually improve.

Maintenance check on PV systems for individual households carried out by last year’s GEMs, plus report regarding previous issues with the system at Lobitos Medical Centre

Also in January, the renewables team carried out a maintenance check on the solar PV systems installed for local households by Newcastle University’s GEM students back in 2024. While the PV systems are operating properly, the lack of regular maintenance is evident, with a large build-up of dirt on the modules, so we are exploring strategies to ensure they can be kept clean and in good condition sustainably in the future. We also delivered a report regarding the previous issues identified with the resilient PV system at the Lobitos Medical Post, presenting our conclusions and recommendations. We are happy to report that the system has been operating perfectly since we corrected the main fault 3 weeks ago!

A Heartfelt Thank You

Of course, none of this progress would be possible without the support of our generous donors and funders. We can only truly touch the lives of vulnerable people across rural Peru with your help, and are deeply grateful for your ongoing commitment and contributions that mean we can continue on this journey together.

Dear GlobalGiving Donors,

How time flies! The end of year is almost upon us, and we are delighted to have so many new updates to share with you from our renewables team, as part of our project: ‘Expanding Energy Access and Knowledge in Peru’. In our last report, we shared ongoing maintenance work on our PV systems, which has been continuing and expanding, and we also introduced our uninterruptible power system plan for the Buenos Aires Medical Centre. Since then, there has been a lot of progress made at home and around Peru, and even a new hire – find out about this and more below.

Solar PV and cookstoves maintenance

Our renewables team has continued our longstanding commitment to maintaining our installations and keeping in contact with our individual beneficiaries. In mid-August, the team visited 2 rural households in Lobitos which had recently benefitted from solar PV installations and cookstoves, ensuring round-the-clock electricity and a cleaner, more efficient way to cook. Take a look at these photos that demonstrate the importance of keeping all our modules clean in this hot, dry and dusty environment. Upon further conversations with our beneficiary families regarding potential improvements to our cookstoves, we came up with an original and inventive idea to reuse the residual ashes from the stove and mix them with mud, which creates a plaster that can be used for the walls of the house. We try to do all we can to ensure that we understand how our beneficiaries make use of our products and whether there is any room for improvement.

A new renewable energy coordinator in Cajamarca

We are delighted to introduce the newest member of our renewables team, Percy Suarez, who joined EcoSwell at the end of August, and is coordinating our upcoming resilient medical centre project in Cajamarca. Percy and Hugo, a longtime member of our renewables team, completed an 8-day site visit to the Cajamarca region, visiting four medical posts in remote villages to conduct analyses of potential stakeholders and sites. During these visits, they measured existing equipment and potential electrical load to be able to come up with accurate blueprints, as well as conducting interviews with medical staff in all four locations. 

Site visit to Buenos Aires resilient medical centre project

Last month, Hugo and Andres, our head of Renewables, visited the Buenos Aires resilient medical centre project to deliver materials that we have purchased, as well as those donated by our corporate partners. During this visit they also met with the electrician and welder for the project to work on the electrical foundations and connections of the PV system, as well as other necessities such as the metal doors for the equipment. As a result of the hard work of all involved parties over the last 2 and a half months, we should shortly be able to switch on the resilient system!

Solar comes to our HQ, and updates on Energy for Schools

This week, we finished the designs for the installation of a new PV system for our headquarters, EcoSwell House! The system should be installed by the end of this week, lessening the impact of blackouts on our work, and representing our commitment to embody sustainability in all of our practices, at home and away. 

Finally, progress continues on our Energy in Schools project, a planned comprehensive energy skills and employability course that will be rolled out as part of the curriculum to secondary school students in Talara. Our sponsor Schneider Electric has met with the foundation and we are currently actioning feedback on our proposal, meaning we should be able to start this course on-time next year.

A Heartfelt Thank You

Of course, none of this progress would be possible without the support of our generous donors and funders. We can only truly touch the lives of vulnerable people across rural Peru with your help, and are deeply grateful for your ongoing commitment and contributions that mean we can continue on this journey together.

Once again, thank you.

Andres Bustamante