SolarGoodWill.org Helps Uganda Communities Learn How to Build Solar Panels for Their Homes

April 22, 2010 - PRLog -- Denver, CO -- SolarGoodWill.org expert Brian Clark taught local residents how to   build solar panels to provide electricity for their homes during a recent trip to Uganda.  The goal of the 3 week trip was to help members of the Mount Elgon Self-Help Community Project learn to build  homemade solar panels for residential use and to power irrigation pump for the local villages.

“SolarGoodwill.org, a division of GreenDIYenergy.com, is dedicated to empowering impoverished communities around the world with the knowledge to  build homemade solar panels.  This knowledge helps isolated communities establish cost-effective access to a reliable power source,” says Brandon Kelly, Marketing Manager for SolarGoodWill.org  (http://solargoodwill.org).

Mt. Elgon Self-Help Community Project is located on the on the Ugandan/Kenyan border and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for orphans and other children who have been affected by poverty, conflict and disease.

Many of the homes were without electricity, so Brian had to begin his 2-week workshop by teaching electricity basics and solar fundamentals before building the actual solar panels. Next came evaluating individual customer’s energy needs.  Most villagers had cell phones, so the workshop included building a small residential solar electric system that could charge them along with generating power for LEDs to light the houses.  

At the end of the 2-week workshop, about 200 local people showed up to see the official launch of the solar project.  Now that the local leaders know how to evaluate and manage a solar panel project, they can teach their fellow villagers  how to build solar panels for about 1/3 of the cost of pre-built panels.

With the training provided by Brian Clark and SolarGoodWill.org, the Mt. Elgon region of the Ugandan/Kenyan border has affordable and renewable electricity for the first time in its history.

“SolarGoodwill.org has already sent our solar expert, Brian Clark, to Cochiti Pueblo in New Mexico and The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota in the United States; to Nicaragua in Central America; and now to Uganda on the African continent.  We are literally going around the world connecting with impoverished communities.  And we want to expand this effort in the coming years with the help of additional funding,” adds Brandon.

Currently, funding is provided exclusively through private donations. To find out more about how you can help people who live in areas affected by extreme poverty  learn to build solar panels and create their own electricity, contact Brandon Kelly by email at  Brandon@greendiyenergy.com, or visit http://solargoodwill.org/contact_us.php.