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Seizing solar power in Argentina

One woman’s mission to harness solar rays to chart a path to energy independence in arid northern Argentina.

Nearly 150,000 homes in Argentina(***)s rural communities do not have electricity.
By Al Jazeera
Published On 23 Dec 2014

In arid northern Argentina, many people have only one source of fuel: wood and often scrawny bushes that are increasingly hard to find.

But the region also has a huge untapped resource – solar radiation – and one woman’s mission is to harness its potential and promote solar energy as the main power source for entire villages.

From kitchens and ovens to heating, lighting, hot water and even a public phone, Virginia Bauso roams the desert spreading innovative technology, including a “kiosk” she invented that cooks food using the sun’s rays.

The community of Misa Rumi is now almost 100 percent solar-functional. As deforestation and desertification continue to ravage Argentina and beyond, Bauso’s vision could play a major role in charting a sustainable path to energy independence.

To follow the story, watch the Witness film: Seizing Solar Power

In northern Argentina, communities have traditionally survived with only one source of fuel: wood.
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(***)You have to go out to the countryside and if you don(***)t have food, you just don(***)t eat. You always need to have wood,(***) says one resident in Jujuy province, in northwestern Argentina.
But the arid region has a huge untapped resource, solar radiation, and one woman is on a mission to harness the power of the sun.
Virginia Bauso is trying to promote solar energy as the main power source for entire villages in Argentina.
(***)People see it lights a fire and they can(***)t believe it. Where(***)s the gas? Where(***)s the wood? The electricity? It(***)s magic,(***) says Bauso.
Solar energy can help power kitchens, heating, lighting and even phones. Virginia Bauso roams the desert spreading innovative technology, including a (***)kiosk(***) she invented that cooks food using the sun(***)s rays.
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Thanks to Bauso(***)s work, the community of Misa Rumi is now almost 100 percent solar functional.
Studies by the EcoAndina Foundation show that one solar cooker reduces household firewood consumption by 50 to 70 percent.
(***)These communities have an ancestral way of life. They(***)ve been living here since before the Incas,(***) says Bauso.
As deforestation and desertification continue to ravage Argentina and beyond, Bauso(***)s vision could play a major role in charting a sustainable path to energy independence.