Puerto Rico: Ongoing Project History

Puerto Rico Program

Started: March 2018

Current Project Managers:
Claire Mitchell and Ryan Buchholz

Former Project Managers:​
Ethan Heroux, ​Allie Stephens, Zane Matz, Connor Link

PUERTO RICO WEBSITE

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As a domestic project, the Puerto Rico Project is not financially tied to the other international projects of our chapter. To financially support our project all donations must be made directly to our donation link or by specifying on the donation memo. Thank you for your contributions.

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​Project Overview:

The Puerto Rico project is centered at Hogar Albergue para Niños Jesús de Nazaret, a children's shelter in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. It is a home that offers shelter, food, transportation, education, social and psychological services to children from infant to 11 years of age who are victims of abuse. After Hurricane Maria’s devastation in September of 2017 and the hurricanes in January of 2020, there has been an energy crisis across the island. The shelter currently pays approximately $800 to $1,000 a month for electricity. The goal of this project is to install a photovoltaic solar panel array with the aim to reduce or completely rid of the children shelter’s monthly electricity bill. The system currently contains ninety-six solar panel cells on top of three buildings at the shelter, feeding energy into four inverters, connected to a system of three battery banks. 

Project Updates:

The system was fully installed on October 5th, 2020 and startup happened shortly after that on October 9th, 2020 (see above for pictures). The final system consists of 96 solar panels, 4 inverters, 3 battery units, 2 transfer switches, and many other electrical components necessary for operation. Startup of the system was made possible by the help of representatives from Schneider, ASCO, and Blue Planet. With a final cost of nearly $150,000 worth of materials and labor, we are more than grateful for all of the support we received from numerous individuals and funding partners for making this project a reality. Throughout this project, the students on our team were able to gain hands-on experience in an inspiring engineering project while working alongside an amazing network of passionate professionals, both in Madison (MAPC) and in Puerto Rico. Our in-country engineer, Angel Zayas, and our contractor, Ernesto Rivera, were an incredible addition to the team and acted as mentors to our students throughout the entirety of the project. For the next five years, we will continue checking in with the community ensuring that the system is running as expected and that the community has no concerns or questions.

Project History:

March 2018: Project founded in conjunction with Professor Tinjum at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Ethan Heroux and Allie Stephens are established as the Project Managers.
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May 2018: We received a Puerto Rico Relief Fund grant for $20,000.

July 2018: We received a grant from Renew Wisconsin’s Solar For Good Initiative for $10,000.

August 2018: Professor James Tinjum biked 2,000 km in 2 weeks passing through 4 states and visiting 50 solar sites in 39 cities. During this #BiketheSun trip, he raised $5,000 from corporate donations and $2588 from public donations for the project.

October 2018: The Hogar received the First Lady of Puerto Rico grant for $25,000. This money was used to buy solar panels, inverters, and power distribution panels.

November 2018: We became an official Engineers Without Borders Community Engineering Corps project. We are the first project to operate in Puerto Rico.

January 2019: A team traveled to the Hogar. The team held networking meetings with mentors and contractors, took detailed measurements of the facilities, and established specifications for appliances used in the buildings. They also continued to build relationships with the staff and children at the shelter.

2019-2020 School Year: The team here in Madison worked on completing final CAD drawings and One Lines. Also, the remainder of the funds to complete this project were raised. Angel Zayas, of AZ Engineering, was solidified as an in-country contractor.

January 2020: A team traveled to the Hogar. The team established connections with contractors, finalized system designs, and further community relations. Finally, they established a timeline for the implementation of the system. Also, we received the Kemper K grant for $12,000.

February 2020: The Operations & Maintenance Manual was finalized and reviewed by MAPC mentors. Final designs were sent to Angel and PREPA.

March 2020: ​The batteries for the system were donated by Blue Planet Energy, which was the last item to fundraise.

July 2020:​ Implementation of the system begins.

August 2020: ​All materials arrived onsite, and the roof was prepped for solar panel installation. By the end of August, all solar panels were installed onto the three individual buildings. 

September 2020: The inverter/control room was prepped for installation of the electrical components of the system. The room was completed near the end of September.

October 2020: On October 5th, the system was fully implemented, and commissioning happened on October 9th. The system is functioning as expected and is generating power for the Hogar. Several maintenance/technical documents, such as the Operations and Maintenance Manual, were sent to the community to help familiarize them with the system and walk them through what to do if any issues arise.
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Next Steps: Continue working with the community and addressing any questions or concerns that they may have. We also plan to travel to the Hogar once it is deemed safe by the University and EWB.