In the rural area of Metapán city, in El Salvador, when it rains or there is a strong wind, branches and trees fall and damage the community’s electric lighting. The aggravating factor is that there is difficult access to get to the canton. Thus, it is common for the electric lighting company not to arrive promptly to solve the situation. This impacts the daily lives of the population, including a student from the Instituto Nacional Benjamín Estrada Valiente, who, together with two classmates and the mediator teacher, created a mini wind generator for this community.
The project called “Elitorre” was a finalist in Solve for Tomorrow 2022 – Central America and the Caribbean region, which brings together 11 countries: the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Ecuador, Venezuela, Belize and Barbados. According to the teacher, Cecília Gallardo, the first step was an exercise of empathy, as indicated in the program’s project journey. “One of them lives in a canton where an energy problem affected him. So, we started talking about renewable energies and the environmental damage we are suffering. Then it occurred to him the idea of implementing a solution in his community,” says Gallardo.
Cecilia Gallardo teaches Physics at the institution and also in the Technical Baccalaureate in Civil Engineering, which is her area of training. But the students involved in “Elitorre” were between 17 and 18 years old and were in the second year of Industrial Mechanics, in the Technical Baccalaureate (the penultimate year of compulsory schooling). “I heard about them and that they liked to participate in topics similar to the Solve for Tomorrow. I saw the opportunity and they accepted the challenge. Participating in this program requires responsibility from the kids, because they have to pay attention to their studies and also dedicate time to the project,” she says.
Turning wind into electricity
What started as a discussion about an emergency solution for electric energy, soon grew into a way to reduce expenses for the population and be a better alternative for the planet. The ambition was great, despite being the first time that the team (teacher and students) developed a project of this type. “It was not long ago that a wind farm had been built in Metapán, taking advantage of the gusts of wind that Guatemala and El Salvador share. That was what also helped us think of this solution,” she adds.
To get their ideas off the ground, they had as allies electrical engineers known to the teacher, who gave them suggestions on how to make a more “micro” project compared to a wind farm, as well as indicating more precise data on the subject (for example: amount of time the battery would take to charge in relation to the wind speed).
The materials needed include a motor, sheet metal and protection for the fan blades; iron for the towers or the base to support the wind generator, as well as cement and sand so that the ground could be stable. Everything cost 260 dollars. “It only has one battery, so if it should increase the potential of the prototype, it would be more expensive but profitable in the long term, because it would last longer,” she explains.
Basically, the speed of the wind generates kinetic energy (movement) through the blades. Cables are used to store this energy and an inverter converts the current to use electricity.
Students learned to find adaptations depending on the context they were facing and to change the scale based on what was most feasible. This encouraged them to see things from different points of view and to be curious, Gallardo believes.
Partnerships and adaptations to overcome challenges
A partnership was important for the success of the project. They couldn’t use just any magnet, it had to be strong. However, the ones they got were of poor quality and broke when they were testing. It was difficult to find others, but luckily one of the students was working in a mechanical workshop and his bosses helped him find a magnet. “It greatly improved the speed of the blades and they were quite stable,” she concludes.
Replicating standard models of wind towers, the team first wanted to install the prototype on the ground. But they realized that they would have to create a very tall tower to really take advantage of the wind speed. “When we actually analyzed the area where the prototype would be deployed, we came up with a solution to reduce costs: we thought that we could do it leaning against the walls of a house in the home,” said the educator.
At the end of the project, El Salvador experienced a week-long tropical storm, making the team unable to go test and implement the prototype. “But we adapted again and did the tests in the school workshop, using a fan as if it were natural wind, and we came up with preliminary results,” she says. By capturing the wind for about 10 hours and using a small 12-volt battery, they were able to charge a computer and lights for four hours. “There is a possibility of developing the project on a larger scale, using larger batteries and a more powerful motor,” she says.
Preparing for the future
Gallardo said the most important outcome was the development of the student´s soft skills because they already had much of the technical knowledge needed to do the project. They learned, for example, to work in teams. “I encouraged them to listen and respect each other’s points of view.”
In addition, the experience reinforced the message of the importance and impact of the student´s actions and she believes that it was also an important learning experience in communication. “It is a public institution and, in most subjects, there is not much work done on the young people learning to express themselves in public. They are not used to being in this type of situation, but they continued improving to prepare for the program’s pitch,” she recalls.
Although students are not doing scientific training at university today, the teacher points out the importance of being able to have that experience at Solve for Tomorrow. “This program gave these kids the opportunity to participate in a scientific project and learn how experiments are developed. This gives them greater confidence to enter to the workforce,” Gallardo explains, saying that it is not always possible to enter university.
