Solar system helps energize Peruvian villages

Russell Newnham and Warren Baldsing of CSIRO display their new gel battery supply that will be used to provide 24-hour power to two remote Peruvian villages.

November 22, 1999
Web posted at: 12:13 p.m. EST (1713 GMT)

Two extremely remote villages in Peru, acting as prototypes of a new power supply system, will soon have brighter futures. Utilizing solar power, a diesel generator and a new power supply system containing banks of gel batteries that capture and store the solar energy, these villagers will have new conveniences only 24-hour energy can provide.

The battery pack was developed by CSIRO, Australia's premier scientific research organization and manufactured by Battery Energy South Pacific. The villages of Indiana and Padre Cocha in Peru's Loreto province, which are accessible by boat from the Amazon River, are cut off from the main electricity grid because they are so secluded. A 24-hour power supply will help alleviate poverty, promote sustainable industry and reduce environmental pollution.

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"The implications of our involvement in this project will bring a long list of benefits to a largely impoverished region," said Dr. Russell Newnham, project leader in CSIRO's Novel Battery Technologies group. "Twenty-four-hour power will allow safe drinking water to be pumped from remote sources, irrigation to help boost food supplies, income generation through development of local industry and improved education and health."

CSIRO researchers developed a battery built specifically for a Remote Area Power Supply system, known as RAPS, which will combine solar panels with battery energy storage and back-up diesel generators to bring improved living situations to the villagers.

"The battery has a superior cycle life to any other battery of its type and it is cheaper by far," says Newnham.

Here's how the power supply system works: A series of photovoltaic panels convert sunshine into electricity. That electricity is then stored in the CSIRO-designed batteries for use when the sun isn't shining. If the batteries become depleted of their energy, the diesel generator kicks in to supply the needed energy and recharge the batteries.

"These are not backward villages. They have everything they need but they've just managed to do it without the convenience of being connected to the grid," said Rob Putnam, manager of communications for the International Lead Zinc Research Organization, who instigated the project in 1997.

"We are in the process of putting the system together to make sure it's in absolute working condition, then the installation will take place," said Putnam. "We will then monitor the system at least one year and probably more. If it's satisfactory and works the way it's supposed to be working, we're then going to replicate it. There are at least 600 more Peruvian villages without 24-hour power."

A pottery artisan in Padre Cocha poses with Jerome F. Cole, ILZRO president.

The villagers will also be educated on the system, how it works and the importance of sustainable energy, said Putnam.

The Peruvian government had concerns about the environmental effects of diesel-generated electricity that many of these villages currently rely on for power, said Jerome Cole, ILZRO president. "There is concern about diesel emissions and fuel spills in the environmentally sensitive Amazon River. Renewable energy sources are seen as a way to help alleviate these problems," he said.

ILZRO estimates that if all the existing diesel generators in this area of Peru alone were augmented by RAPS systems, nearly 2,170 pounds less carbon dioxide would enter our atmosphere over the next 20 years.

The CSIRO-BESP battery chosen by ILZRO is unlike the typical flooded lead-acid battery found in the average car. Instead of liquid acid, the battery's acidic electrolyte is a thick, gel-like substance.

The design gives it several features that make it attractive for RAPS duty, said Newnham. "They are virtually maintenance free, they produce negligible acid fumes and hydrogen gas negating the need for special ventilation in the battery storage room and they are easily transported and installed as there is little risk of acid spillage," he said.

The Peruvian government, ILZRO and a host of international companies and research groups signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 1997 committing them to provide electricity in a cost-effective and environmentally sound way.

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