Sunday, July 14, 2013

Thailand: Solar cell project a hit with Phitsanulok villagers The Nation July 15, 2013


Solar cell project a hit with Phitsanulok villagers

King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Lat Krabang is going ahead with its five-year project to set up solar cells for a community in a Phitsanulok sub-district.

The project, which kicked off last year, utilises solar power to bring electricity to homes in Chat Trakan district's Bang Dong sub district, Dr Worakarn Niyakorn, chief of the Science Faculty's physics department, explained. 

The sub-district comprises 16 villages with a total of 2,800 households, and some of these homes still lack electricity. Though some households had been given solar cells under a government project, these were in a deteriorated condition - hence the project. 

A team of lecturers, students and alumni, besides passing on knowledge to local residents, equipped utility poles along the roads with solar panels to ensure public safety and distribute electricity to people's homes. 

In the first year, the team set up 15 such utility poles at accident-prone spots and brought power to 23 homes. 

This year, they have installed 15 utility poles and provided electricity to another 10 homes. They are also conducting alternative-energy workshops at schools. In the next three years, they will help set up an alternative-energy learning centre, install more solar cells, as well as teach locals how to use and maintain these cells properly.

Worakarn said the project also gave the institute's students a chance to transport their knowledge from the classroom to the real world. 

Roo Janthakhun, chief of the Tambon Ban Dong Administrative Organisation, said the project had made villagers' lives more comfortable and now, thanks to the knowledge passed on, they know how to take care of the system themselves.

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