Vivant switches on solar power system in 2 Cebu schools

The Vivant group has powered on a 21-kilowatt solar photovoltaic (PV) system in two schools in Cebu as high school students were being trained to do the maintenance of the system, which was put up with support from the European Union.

The initiative is being done through Project Renewable Energy for Livelihood and Youth (Rely), benefiting Carnaza Elementary School and Carnaza National High School on an island off Daanbantayan.

“We look forward to the time when the students are able to come to school physically and experience how their learning conditions have improved,” said Rely project director Sabine Schacknat, who is with the project’s lead implementor, sequa gGmbH.

Project Rely’s implementing partners are Vivant Foundation and Process (Participatory Research, Organization of Communities and Education towards Struggle for Self-reliance)-Bohol.

“For now, the fully energized schools are helping teachers prepare the modules that their students need,” Shacknat said.

The system includes 64 PV modules, inverters and batteries. Carnaza National High School, located on the other side of Carnaza Island, has an installation with a similar generation capacity.

The Rely project’s approach combines solar electrification with community development and improved vocational education by collaborating with five partner senior high schools located closest to the off-grid schools.

For Carnaza, the partner senior high school is Daanbantayan National High School which received from Project Rel a set of tools and equipment to upgrade the technical-vocational track for Electrical Installation and Maintenance (EIM) of Daanbantayan National High School.

Since the donation was turned over in June 2019, Daanbantayan National High School EIMstudents have been able to acquire knowledge and skills related to solar technology. INQ