Volunteer: Renewable Energy Development in Peru

Duration: Minimum 2 weeks, maximum 6 months

Cost: from $1180 USD for the first 2 weeks + $350-$430 for each week thereafter

Fee Includes: all food, accommodation, airport pickup, pre-departure + in-country support, orientation and all project related activities

Does not Include: flights, travel insurance, personal spending, visas and vaccinations

Please note: This opportunity is designed to give you the contacts and experience to help further your career. You are not replacing any member of staff, but helping alongside them, whilst learning new skills.

Start Dates: Project is on-going, and you can join at any time, depending upon availability

Benefits

• Gain personal hands-on experience working with a growing Peruvian NGO.
• Work alongside experienced + passionate professionals and local communities.
• Live and work in a north Peru surfing hot-spot.
• Ideal for those studying Engineering and Renewable Energy Technology
• Keywords:Engineering, field work, sustainable development, community development, serious project.

The Approach Towards Sustainability Consists Of Three Pillars

During this project, you will be working with a surfing-inspired sustainable development non-profit (NGO) driving the development of poor Peruvian coastal communities through a path of sustainability, improving the quality of life of their inhabitants. The NGO develops educational, infrastructure, environmental, social and economic productivity projects working hand in hand with local communities and with international volunteers/interns. They take a “shared value” approach, working with the private, public, academic sectors and other NGOs, to come up with relevant and lasting sustainable solutions.

• Nature conservation;
• Social justice; and
• Economic wellbeing for all.

The NGO currently operates in a coastal northern town and surfing hotspot, which has seen an increase in uncontrolled tourism over the last 15 years. As a result of the town s lack of infrastructure, lack of communication between stakeholders and lack of integrated development programmes, this tourism is giving rise to various environmental, social and economic risks to the town s long-term sustainability and wellbeing. The NGO is working to change this through a variety of projects from distinct disciplines, but needs all the help they can get. The organisation runs many different initiatives and at times finds itself thinly stretched. This is an excellent opportunity for you to gain valuable international development experience on how to run an NGO in a developing region, turning you into an agent of change, in a time when you are very much needed.

Early in 2016, we installed a state-of-the-art photovoltaic energy system at the Community Hall of the Lobitos Artisanal Fishermen s Association, as one of the objectives after a successful crowdfunding campaign. The setup is made up of two solar panels of 600W (300W each), four maintenance-free deep cycle use rechargeable batteries of 12V and 100Ah (20 hours) and a smart multi-function inverter/charger of 2.4kW and 24/220V.

Daily Life

This system is currently powering the Community Hall in the middle of the Primavera neighbourhood, the main fishermen s neighbourhood in Lobitos. In this way the Community Hall has turned into a centre where the inhabitants can access free, clean and renewable energy, especially during the occasional blackouts from the grid in Lobitos. It has also reduced the Fishermen Association s electric bill, greatly reducing their operating costs and generating important savings for the organization. However, the installed system can handle up to 2.4kW of load and it is currently running with idle capacity (only 10-20% of power is used).

This project can keep improving and there are several activities in which the intern could get involved with, including:

• Designing and implementing energy systems for use of this idle capacity in benefit of the Fishermen Association (eg: powering equipment that adds economic value to the local fish catch, powering a solar distiller for desalinization of seawater for the community, powering equipment that generates other revenue streams for the fishermen, etc.)
• Obtain energy-usage data from the smart inverter in order to calculate and produce CO2 emissions reductions reports from the use of clean energy instead of the grid.
• Designing and implementing any add-ons or improvements to the existing system
• Research into, scope, design and implement, a mixed system by adding a wind energy component (eg: wind turbines) so as to diversify the dependency on different renewable energy sources.

We are looking for someone with a passion for renewable energy (engineers, technicians, specialists, etc.). A university specialization or work experience is preferable. Someone who has minimum proficiency in Spanish and is capable of working as part of a team and in remote areas. Good communication skills and the ability to multitask will be essential.

Please note: all information above is subject to change. Please check the most up to date information on the Global Nomadic website when applying.