Picture: Carmen and Romelio, in their little shop in the Amazonian community of Copal Urco.

The first photovoltaic micro grid of acciona.org illuminates Copal Urco since 2021. This is a rural community located in the Napo River basin, in the Peruvian Amazonia. Almost half a thousand people live in this land, feed on their crops and preserve their traditions.

In this context, the little shop of Romelio and Carmen has a special importance in Copal Urco. It is the only store in the community where people can get some basic products such as school supplies, hygiene products, food or cold drinks. Although the couple opened the store five years ago, it did not always have lighting. Romelio says that before they had to use a torch for lighting and now, with the energy from the photovoltaic station, "the light is brighter and clearer: we can see everything. It's more practical" and they have increased the number of hours they have the store open at night.

As benefits of the electricity service that acciona.org provides with the photovoltaic micro grid, many families use appliances that improve their living conditions, such as fridges, and their leisure time, such as televisions. Next to the little store, Romelio and Carmen have a small TV and show movies some nights for the neighbors of their community. Young and old people meet there to enjoy a movie session in company while they eat or drink some of the products offered by this small store in Copal Urco.

In this community, more than 50 households and street lighting benefit from solar energy during 8 hours every day, and schools and community centres have 24 hours daily. When night falls, community life is also possible.

acciona.org has been providing development cooperation in Peru for 14 years, where around 350 rural and indigenous communities have improved their social and economic progress with the basic electricity, water and sanitation services for the long term. The Luz en Casa and Agua en Casa programmes reduce inequality between urban and rural areas, reducing the underserved rural and indigenous population in the departments of Cajamarca, Loreto, Cusco and Ica.

Read more about the micro grid of acciona.org here.