| | |  Editorials | Environmental | August 2009 
Village Powers Up, Thanks to the Sun
 Rumbo de México
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August 06, 2009
| | Experts predict that by 2035, 10 percent of the world's energy production will come from the sun. | |
A small fishing community in southern Veracruz is getting lit up by its most renewable resource: the sun.
Governor Fidel Hererra Beltrán unveiled solar panels earlier this week in Martín Prieto, a village near the coast in the Alvarado Municipality. The panels will provide light and energy to residents, a 2 million-peso project that would cost as much as twenty times more using typical electricity, Hererra said.
The panels came from ERDM, a renewable energy products manufacturer using German technology in nearby San Andrés Tuxtla, he said.
Veracruz is also planning to install solar-harnessing products in 15 of the state's most rural and poorest areas, including Astacinga, Mixtla de Altamirano, Aquila, Soledad Atzompa, Tehuipango and Tequila.
Herrera said solar energy has the benefit of being independent; it doesn't need the expensive and complicated infrastructure that traditional energy sources require, especially in isolated areas.
Other clean energy projects are in the works, such as hydroelectric plants in the Zongolica region and a nuclear energy plant elsewhere, he said.
Last month, Herrera announced that ERDM would spend 5 million euros to expand its solar energy panel production plant. With the initial investment, the plant's workforce will double to 120, he said.
Since opening in the south part of Veracruz in 2003, ERDM has also created 200 indirect jobs, Hererra said after meeting with representatives of Q Cells AG and ERDM.
The demand for solar energy is growing quickly. Experts predict that by 2035, 10 percent of the world's energy production will come from the sun. |
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