Background

Guatemala suffers from debilitating poverty, with 75% of the population below poverty level. The country is also in the middle of an energy crisis due to the high level of poverty and the 36-year civil war that officially ended in 1996. The majority of the population lack health care, education, potable water, and electricity.

In August 2005 the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG) began training its first micro-manufacturing facility in Quetzaltenango in an effort to provide clean technology for rural villages in Guatemala. Xela Teco was opened under the AIDG’s business incubation program, which locates engineering talent in developing countries and helps to form what will eventually be self-sustainable businesses.

Process

The EWB ATDT is working with AIDG to develop a low cost, small-scale wind turbine that will be manufactured at the Xela Teco facility and used in remote villages to power lighting systems and charge cell phones. Previous wind turbines manufactured at Xela Teco were difficult to manufacture, required a large and expensive tower, and were too large for individual home use. The pico-turbines will be designed as expandable systems that allow for multiple turbines to be mounted on a single tower.

The ATDT will be responsible for design, prototyping, and initial testing of the systems.

More Info

Project Links/Technical Information