Pataguas Cerro and La Cebada: The History of the First Community Photovoltaic Plants in the O’Higgins Region

In the middle of fertile valleys that produce corn, wheat, potatoes, oranges, lemons, avocados, peaches and grapes, and with the Cachapoal River as their northern boundary, the inhabitants of the communes of Pichidegua and Las Cabras live 140 kilometers from Santiago and suffer — as is usual in rural Chilean localities — frequent power cuts and the difficulties of having low voltage. “In this area (Pichidegua and Las Cabras) the lack of electricity is a more frequent reality than one thinks. In winter there are power cuts due to storms, or due to falling trees and branches, among others,” explains Constanza López, environmental manager of the Las Cabras commune. López explains that these difficulties are compounded by the exponential growth of electricity consumption from the electrical grid as the communes are growing in population. “Our electrical grid is old and the transformers overheat,” she adds.

Since its invention, electricity and its access have emerged as a primary need for people and their quality of life. This is why, in areas where electricity is a scarce commodity, rural communities can benefit from small-scale renewable energy projects.This is according to Carla Douglas González, project coordinator of the NGO Energía Colectiva, whose objective is to promote citizen participation in the energy transition. “Renewable energy projects are scalable, therefore they represent a very good solution for the lack of electricity supply, especially where there is none or it is intermittent,” she says.

Community Photovoltaic Plants: Pataguas Cerro and La Cebada

In this context, the communities and institutions of Pichidegua and Las Cabras installed two community photovoltaic plants: the first, called “Pataguas Cerro”, was installed in Pichidegua in November 2021, and generates 54 kWp –  which is a unit of measurement used to measure the performance of photovoltaic solar energy systems. The second is called “La Cebada” and is located in the commune of Las Cabras, and has a capacity of 35 kWp. Both photovoltaic plants allow the generation of clean energy and energy savings not only for the institution that installed them — the Cooperativa Campesina Intercomunal Peumo (Coopeumo) — but also for the three rural health posts; the Latin American High School, the Pataguas Cerro School in Pichidegua and the Santa Eugenia Rural School, and the headquarters of the neighborhood council in Las Cabras.

“This project seeks to improve the continuity of the electricity service for the satisfaction of the community. Today, energy is a commodity that is required every day,” explains Roberto Rodríguez, head of the environmental office of the Pichidegua commune, on the reasons for community photovoltaic parks.

The Step-by-Step Construction of the Pichidegua Photovoltaic Park

The idea of installing solar panels and sharing the surplus with the surrounding community was conceived by the Coopeumo Cooperative, which is dedicated to the sale of agricultural inputs, credits, provision of technical assistance, marketing and project development, among others. “The project began to take shape in 2020, when the Coopeumo Cooperative was contacted by RedGenera, a cooperative dedicated to providing comprehensive engineering and assembly solutions that incorporate the use of solar energy, efficient energy management and energy education. They contacted us because we met the requirements to apply for funds that were being launched by the Ministry of Energy’s energy sustainability agency, which financed half of a photovoltaic project of a certain characteristic and capacity. Together with the Municipality of Pichidegua, we applied for these funds and together with RedGenera – who are the technical advisors for renewable energy – we were granted this project, which has a capacity of 32 kilos of generation,” says Ignacio Mena, who in charge of technical projects for the Coopeumo Cooperative and also lives in Pichidegua with his family. Mena explains that, for the Coopeumo Cooperative, the main motivation for installing photovoltaic panels was, at first, monetary savings. “The photovoltaic panels were installed on the roof of the shed, where we store inputs for agricultural work,” he explains, and adds that the remaining energy is redistributed through the splices – which are the union of two or more cables of an electrical installation – to different educational and health establishments.

According to the person in charge of the Environment Office of the municipality of Pichidegua, in order to choose which institutions to benefit from the remaining electric energy, a follow-up was made of the electric consumption of health centres and schools. “The entire school community and health officials were summoned to inform them of the project. Then came the most meticulous work, which was to take, in this case, all the electricity bills and analyze the last six months to get an average. Then, to find out which institutions (schools and health centres) to support in order to lower the cost. In this way, we reached these five benefiting establishments: Patagua Cerro School, Latin American High School, San Roberto Rural Post Office, Patagua Cerro Rural Post Office and Larmahue Rural Post Office. The first stage worked extremely well, so we decided to apply for a second stage of expansion,” says Rodríguez.

In the Las Cabras commune, the process was different according to the neighbors. “Coopeumo approached us and included us in the project when they started and it seemed like a good idea. Here in the sector, the issue of electric light is that it’s not regular, the voltage is low and we have power cuts in the winter. In addition, there is overpopulation and more and more houses are connected to electric light. We, as the La Cebada neighborhood council, were willing to participate in the project at all times and supported it through a letter,” says Sandra Madrid, president of the neighborhood organization. In this sense, Madrid values the renewal of technologies, considering the social and environmental benefits that they can generate for the local population.

Víctor González Arriaza, director of the Pataguas Cerro School, tells how solar panels have been great allies for the school in economic and educational terms. “The sixth grade children visited the Coopeumo facilities where the solar panels are and received direct information from Ignacio Mena and the expert who was installing the project. They were told about the photovoltaic panels and they understood very clearly how they work and how this renewable energy system can be achieved,” he says. “The children’s impression was that it was very interesting. They didn’t know that the sun could be transformed into electrical energy and that it is transported through the cables they have to the interconnected system and reaches their homes. They were, in general, very happy, fascinated, and grateful for the presentation that was given,” he adds.

Regarding the discount on the electricity bill that the school receives, González Arriaza says that it is very useful because they are very dependent on electricity: “At the school we use a lot of lights. In the mornings, for example, we need to light up this room that we are using, in the offices we use computers and printers. Teachers use a lot of the ‘data’ [projectors] for their presentations of the subject. Energy is also used in heating and in electrical appliances for food such as kettles, microwaves and electric ovens.”

In this context, the economic savings become important — and according to data provided by Mena, the Coopeumo Cooperative has saved approximately 170 thousand pesos per month since the installation of the photovoltaic panels. Likewise, according to the organization, the average savings were 75 thousand pesos per month at the rural health centers and 30 thousand pesos at the schools. In the long term, the decrease in costs in the electricity bills also results in savings for public entities, in this case both municipalities, which can allow these resources to be allocated to other purposes. “Likewise, electrical engineers have explained to us that having a solar or electric generation plant close to a community improves their voltage tension,” says Mena, referring to other benefits that the neighbors have experienced since the installation of the photovoltaic park.

The Difficulties of Community Photovoltaic Parks

Despite all the benefits that photovoltaic panels have represented for the communities of Pichidegua and Las Cabras, there are still difficulties in the implementation of this type of project at a general and individual level; i.e., lack of training, dissemination and financing. Carla Douglas Gonzalez, project coordinator of the NGO Energía Colectiva, maintains that at a general level the main barrier to renewable energy projects is the monetary investment because “they are projects that are still expensive. On average, this technology costs 1,000 dollars for each kWp installed, and each family needs two.”

Douglas adds that another difficulty for this type of project is the lack of knowledge that rural communities and local authorities have to implement them: “Many communities do not have the tools because there has not been a dissemination campaign. We in the NGO Energía Colectiva have carried out training and people are motivated, but then it is difficult to continue without an organization that supports you in implementing or a state fund that helps you finance.” In the case of the Pichidegua commune, one of the main limitations was the size of the project, says Mena, referring to the number of panels that the first initiative had. “In total, there are 74 solar panels placed on the roof of a cooperative warehouse. It is difficult to have the technical infrastructure to support all the weight of that amount of equipment installed on the roof, and for it to be safe. There is a difficulty or an indication, so to speak, that you have to have a [solid] infrastructure to be able to set up a plant.”

“Likewise, we had bureaucratic problems for the CGE company to make the discounts on the electricity bills. They were unaware of the law and the treatment that had to be given to a plant of this type, where there were discounts for different connections, so that was a problem,” he adds. For López, from the Las Cabras municipality, the most difficult thing has been to show people that sustainable energy projects work and are beneficial for the community: “The truth is that people always have fears, especially in rural environments. Our commune is rural and access to information is difficult. So, through this we can try to educate people and the community to be able to show them that they [the plants] do work.”

“Like the La Cebada neighborhood association, we were willing at all times to collaborate on the project. I knew about the concept of solar panels, but I thought they were only used in homes; I had no idea that one could apply for headquarters,” adds the president of the Las Cabras neighborhood organization. “The ideal would be for this type of project to become better known. In other words, for the entire community of the region or the country to know about these projects that are being carried out, which are truly totally for their own benefit, so that they can continue to be replicated in other communes and in other sectors,” she concludes.

*This article is part of the “Fair Energy Solutions” program by Climate Tracker and Open Society Foundation                    Marta Apablaza Riquelme is a freelance science journalist based in Santiago, Chile  

Click map to enlarge
The second community photovoltaic park located in the commune of “Las Cabras” called “La Cebada” has a capacity of 35 kWp and is monitored by the cooperative through an application
Marcos Fuentes, mayor of Pichidegua, and Roberto Rodríguez, head of the Pichidegua commune's environmental office, supported the installation of the community photovoltaic park in Pichidegua by managing the electrical connections and coordinating the beneficiary institutions
Victor Gonzalez, director of the Pataguas Cerro elementary school, is very happy that his school will benefit from the photovoltaic plant. It helps with the electricity bill and helps spread renewable energy technologies among the children
The community photovoltaic plant “La Cebada” installed in the facilities of the Cooperativa Campesina COOPEUMO in the Las Cabras commune, has a capacity of 35 kWp and allows the generation of clean energy and energy savings for the Santa Eugenia Rural School and the headquarters of the Residents’ Association