A solar power panel is seen in the schoolyard of SMP Negeri Satu Atap state junior high school in Kataka village of Kahaungun Eti district, East Sumba regency, East Nusa Tenggara, Wednesday (13/9). The solar power panel is capable of producing 1,500 watts to meet the electricity needs of the school, as well as recharging the energy-saving light bulbs that were distributed to families in the village as part of the government’s village electrification program.
Several solar panels have been installed in a corner of the schoolyard of SMP Negeri Satu Atap state junior high school in Kataka village, Kahaungu Eti district, East Sumba regency, East Nusa Tenggara. The panel produces 1,500 watts of energy for the school’s use.
The electricity produced by the solar panel is distributed to every classroom at the school. Meanwhile, in the faculty room, a charging board for energy-saving solar-powered light bulbs (LTSHE) is installed on the wall. The charging board has 60 holes that are all numbered. Each bulb must be charged in the hole with the corresponding LTSHE number.
SMP Negeri Satu Atap principal Kataka Leonardus Lu Ranjamandi, interviewed at the school on Wednesday (13/9), said that the solar panel was installed on April 2015 with the help of Hivos, an international non-profit organization based in the Netherlands. Hivos, which works in the field of renewable energy, among other development fields, also distributed the rechargeable light bulbs. Every house in Kahaungu Eti district has received 1-2 bulbs each.
Before, the school used to use a diesel power generator set as its source of electricity. Everytime they operated the genset, the school had to fill it with 2 liters of diesel fuel to provide three hours of electricity for the school. The genset is filled with fuel only when the school needs electricity. In Kataka, diesel costs Rp 10,000 per liter at retailers.
By using a solar panel, the electricity needs of the school were more easily fulfilled. The teachers’ laptops no longer run out of power, and the same goes for the classroom projectors. For students, the solar panels are the electrification solution for their homes.
The light bulbs in their homes must be brought to the school to be recharged, which takes four hours each time. The light bulbs are charged every two to three days on average. The students are charged Rp 1,300 every time they recharge their bulbs.
“The solar panel helps improve the learning-teaching process at school. The national examination scores of the students have improved and the graduation rate reached 100 percent. The students are also more eager to come to school, because they need to charge their bulbs,” said Leonardus.
Before they had the LTSHE bulbs, the students relied on the light from kerosene lamps to study at home. The light emitted by kerosene lamps is not as bright as the light from the LTSHE bulbs. Also, the LTSHE bulbs are easier to use and to carry around.
“Sometimes, the bulb is used by their mothers to weave at night. The bulb is also used as a source of light when going out to fields,” said Ima Kaputangu, 16, a ninth grader at SMP Negeri 1 Satu Atap Kataka.
Not free
The solar panel-charging board packages have been provided to 25 schools across Sumba. Schools eligible to receive the package are those that are located in remote areas that do not have access to electricity and have more than 100 students.
The distribution of LTSHE bulbs from Hivos is not free. Every family that wants one must pay Rp 50,000 per bulb, and are restricted to a maximum LTSHE bulbs per family. Hivos has set a target of distributing 6,000 LTSHE bulbs across Sumba by the end of 2017.
“At the moment, around 4,000 units have been distributed. The bulb distribution is deliberately not free of charge, so that residents feel responsible for taking care of the bulb,” said Munawir, the Hivos field project manager in Sumba.
Ninety percent of the money collected from the bulbs and the recharging fee goes to Hivos, while the remaining 10 percent is managed by the school to fund its operations. The money collected by Hivos will be used to pay for the care and maintenance costs of the solar panel and the LTSHE bulbs.
“The care and maintenance is done by our partner Resco (Renewable Energy Service Company), and it\'s all free,” Munawir said.
Resco’s manager in Sumba, Agus Halim, said that the LTSHE bulbs provided to residents are durable. Of the thousands of bulbs that have been distributed, less than 10 have broken down and are being repaired. The LTSHEs are locally produced.
Sumba is a region of Indonesia that does not enjoy full access to electricity.
In its effort to expand the electricity supply to remote areas of the country, the government has targeted a number of renewable energy power plant projects tobe completed the end of 2017. The projects include a 1,858.5-megawatt (MW) geothermal power plant, several solar power plants, a 124.28 MW micro-hydro power plant and a 1,812 MW biomass power plant.
