Renewable Energy for the Developing World- Hands ON

Course fee includes food, shared lodging, and all in-country travel.

Solar Energy International's Renewable Energy for the Developing World - Hands On (REDWHO) workshop combines classroom sessions with a strong emphasis on real-world projects in the community along with hands-on labs. You will have the opportunity to understand, design, and install systems that can dramatically improve the living conditions of the local people.

For millions of people around the world, renewable energy can replace dirty, expensive, and inconvenient energy. For those in the developing world, it may provide the first electric lights a family has seen, replacing darkness at sunset with the opportunity to read, study, or recreate after a day of work. This hands-on workshop teaches volunteers how to ensure quality renewable energy assistance to the people who are most in need.  

In the classroom portion, students will gain a basic understanding of all the major renewable energy system types, including solar-electricity, micro-hydro electricity, and wind-electricity, solar cooking, solar hot water, and methane biogas digesters in developing world applications. Participants will learn the components, applications, and limitations for each system type, and will be able to analyze a site and make suggestions on the most appropriate renewable energy technologies. 

Participants will join with Sol Verde, a women's solar cooking cooperative from Guanacaste Costa Rica, to build and use solar cookers. Participants will also help install a small solar-electric system or solar hot water system, and will work together with Central American experts to build a methane biogas digester. These hands-on installations give participants the opportunity to interact with local members of the community and experience both the challenges and satisfaction of working within the developing world.

Logistics:

Participants must by ready to meet outside the San Jose, Costa Rica airport by 3:00 p.m. at the latest on Saturday, March 10, 2012, and will be returned to the same airport by 11 a.m. on Sunday, March 18, 2012. Please plan your flights accordingly, with leeway for the vagaries of travel. Those not at the meeting place at the appointed time on March 10 will need to make their own arrangements to get to the ranch.

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Topics include:

• Solar Electricity for Rural Development
• Wind Electricity
• Micro-Hydro Electricity
• Solar Hot Water
• Solar Cooking and Food Drying (with Sol Verde, a women's cooperative)
• Technology Transfer and System Maintenance
• Methane Biogas Digesters (with Dr. Richard Taylor of Earth University)
• Social & Cultural Issues of Working in the Developing World
• Hands-On Installations in the Local Community