Solar Scholars

Urban poor farmers still use pure muscle power - manually drawing water from open wells using buckets - to water their vegetables and herbs at the 1.5 hectare community garden called Yaokasin Techno Demo Farm located at Brgy. 89, San Jose District Tacloban City.

Muscle power has been replaced by the power of the sun this morning when Team Bahalina fitted a 500GPH 12V DC Bilge Pump powered by a 100W solar panel.

The solar-powered water pump prototype has been developed by RE-Charge Pilipinas (RCP) intern Kiko Gabriel Nunez, a De La Salle mechanical engineering student, under the guidance of Technical Consultant Jelle Nijman. Kiko was assisted by Memar Lagmac, another RCP intern from the Eastern Visayas State University.

The solar panels are directly connected to the DC pump, regulated by a tiny buck converter to ensure the voltage is at a stable 12V. Thus, the system rules out the typical solar-power setup of using batteries and a charge controller as this irrigation device is only needed when the sun shines bright and hot. There is no need for it in the evening, nor on heavily overcast and rainy days. The result is a simple, low cost irrigation system for the community farm.

With the depth of the open wells ranging only from 0.5 to 1m, a small DC pump that is capable of supplying a decent flow rate at a maximum height of 1.5m is all that is necessary for the job. This optimizes the system avoiding over or under specification of the equipment for the particular work load. Team Bahalina has also made efforts to make the solar-powered water pump a simple yet, modular system so that the people themselves will easily be able to make simple improvements or repairs to the panel stand and pump mountings.

Agriculturist Reggie Ortega, manager of the community farm, summed up the benefits of the solar-powered water pump. “The solar pump reduces by an hour the usual two to three hours spent by farmers in watering the plants”, he said. “Speedy work means more productivity; it allows farmers to go home early to their families,” he added.

Solar Cooker at RE-Charge Pilipinas

Our neighbors who charged their devices at our facility today had the chance to witness how our simple solar cooker works. Children and women were amazed at how our solar cooker - made from plywood, aluminum wrappers and steel bars - can easily boil water in just a few minutes.

On the second day of the blackout triggered by the Leyte earthquake, RE-Charge Pilipinas (RCP) staff charged 103 mobile phones and other devices for free in its solar-powered facility located at 58 Burgos Street, Brgy. 38, Tacloban City.

Yesterday, RCP charged 53 devices from people living in the barangay.

Helping Taclobanons access clean, safe and reliable solar energy is all in a day’s work at RE-Charge Pilipinas.

TekPak in Tinabanan

Solar scholars in Brgy. Tinabanan, Marabut have been using a TekPak to charge mobile phones and other gadgets since the power blackout happened two days. Almost two years old, the TekPak is still working well.

It was turned over by the iCSC to the solar ates, mamas and lolas belonging to the Pambansang Koalisyon ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan (PKKK) on Sept. 6, 2015 during the Solar Scholars Training in Tinabanan. It brightened the big dark cave in Tinabanan and powered mobile phones, handheld radios and nebulizers in three major solar-powered community evacuation drills held in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

In the hands of women solar scholars, the TekPak in Tinabanan has been an indispensable tool of communities to access safe, reliable solar energy during emergencies like the ongoing blackout affecting Samar and Leyte.

RE-Charge Pilipinas staff and pioneer solar scholar Jesy Bachicha deploying a TekPak to a fellow solar scholar for Urban Poor Associates office in Tacloban City

"Renewable energy would not only help humanitarian actors better deliver in times of disasters. It would also allow vulnerable communities to become resilient in times of crisis. Starting this [National Disaster Resilience Month], we encourage government and humanitarian agencies alike to consider how future humanitarian responses will be energized." - Golda Hilario, ICSC's associate for program development

Powering disaster resilience through renewable energy

Tacloban Independence Day Stories - Breaking free from energy poverty, water scarcity and lack of livelihood!

The resettlement of thousands of families in Tacloban City, Leyte is far from over three years after Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). Taclobanons from several resettlement sites have welcomed us into their homes and told us about their challenges and aspirations on low-carbon development, snippets of which you can see in this weeklong series.

Team Bahalina MacGyvers - Jelle and Kiko - experimenting on our new, bigger and enhanced Wind Turbine...