Strengths:
A major strength of the project is that it received the buy-in of the community members and therefore received strong support from its inception to completion. The training of two residents from the community, Ms. Miriam Choc and Ms. Cristina Choc, as solar engineers at the Barefoot College in India was also a major positive aspect of the endeavor. The village therefore has its own Solar Engineers along with assistants who have been trained to fabricate, install, repair and maintain the solar power systems for the village?s households.

One of the main strengths of the project was that the solar power board appointed members were sound, highly motivated and had the capacity to manage the resources and financial transactions for the project in a professional, transparent and ?above board? manner. Workshop participants generally agreed that the power board is competent and efficient in performing its tasks.

As it relates to the executing agency, Plenty?s experience with solar based projects enabled that entity to effectively guide and monitor the execution of the project. It should be noted that Plenty International Belize has gained a substantial experience working with villages to install basic utilities and services and has successfully implemented a similar project in Santa Teresa (which is still up and running effectively). Furthermore, Plenty Belize has other similar community-oriented projects in the pipeline for Graham Creek and Machakil villages.

Another major strength of the project was that a vast majority of the households were committed to paying the fees set for the power supply. Additionally, they generally complied with the by-laws governing the project and the system that has been established.
Weaknesses:

One of the main weaknesses of the project was that the parts that were ordered for the solar units were just exact for the fabrication and installation of the units for the forty-five (45) households in Santa Elena. There were no extra parts ordered (particularly parts that may have the tendency to malfunction within a certain period). A few residents complained that certain components from their solar power systems malfunctioned shortly after installation and there were no parts readily available to replace those defective parts.

Another weakness of the project was that there was no detailed built-in mechanism in place to guide the sustainability aspect of the endeavor once the system has been handed over to the community. The fees that households have been asked to pay for the upkeep of the system is not considered enough to properly maintain the equipment that compose the solar power systems in the long run.

Another issue is that while the training of Ms. Miriam Choc and Ms. Cristina Choc to serve as solar engineers was a major upside for the project, the fact that they have such a huge responsibility to oversee the maintenance and repair of all the units throughout the village may eventually become overwhelming and taxing for them and their assistants.

Another major weakness of the project was that there was no forecasting activity or projections carried out by community stakeholders to determine the maintenance needs and costs that the community would incur in relation to this endeavor in the long run. There was no conclusive exercise conducted to determine what measures should be implemented to make the project self-sustainable in the future.

Challenges during project implementation

During the participatory workshop, the following challenges and constraints regarding the project were identified:

As stated in the progress reports and corroborated by community stakeholders during the participatory workshop, there were some major changes as it relates to shipping costs of the equipment and components. Barefoot College had a huge change in shipping cost from their original estimate of US$2,000 prior to project start to $4,500 (more than double) during actual project. This had serious implications on costs incurred and had to be covered by the project.

Another challenge faced in the project was that some of the equipment malfunctioned soon after installation and the parts to replace the faulty components were not available since only enough parts for the 45 units (45 households) were procured through the project.

There were miscommunication issues between some residents and the Solar Power Board as it related to the maintenance and repair of faulty equipment. Some residents believed that they were not receiving adequate service and their concerns were not being addressed satisfactorily, especially since they were paying for such service. Members of the Solar Power Board stated that community members were not always forthcoming with concerns and instead complained to other community members without their knowledge (Solar Power Board). Some who did approach the Solar Power Board members with their concerns were sometimes unrealistic with their demands since, as mentioned earlier, not all major components were readily available to fix the malfunctioning units.

Since Ms. Miriam Choc and Ms. Cristina Choc were the only individuals completely trained and authorized to address issues with the solar power systems throughout the community, they were at times overwhelmed with the daunting responsibility of keeping all the systems up and running effectively for all households. Though they had some help in addressing problems that arose and in doing some basic troubleshooting, the tasks were at times very challenging to execute effectively.

Evidently, the unavailability of parts (for the solar power systems) was another challenge since most of the components that are necessary for the systems to function properly must be sourced from India. This again would have severe time and cost implications when it comes to the maintenance and repair of the systems throughout the village.

Benefits of the Project

The information received during the workshop and through the survey conducted with workshop participants revealed that there were various benefits that the project yielded for the participants. One such benefit is that it greatly helps children in studying with lights at night. Through the survey, it was confirmed by students, parents and teachers at the community school that students? grades improved significantly because they could dedicate more time to studying at night with proper lighting.
This bar chart illustrates that 51 per cent of the students from the community have seen their grades improve and they believed that this is directly attributable to the increased availability of proper lighting for them to study at night.
Forty-seven claimed
grades remained the same.
Some parents who engage in certain economic activities claimed that they could also dedicate more time to their craft at night now that they have better lighting. These included seamstresses and crafts men and women (basket weavers etc.) in the village who produced items with their hands for sale. This is a great benefit that contributes to economic empowerment among community members.
Another major benefit of the project is that the solar power mitigates against climate change because it replaces carbon dioxide (CO2)-producing kerosene and candles. From a health perspective, it contributes to better health for residents by removing inhalation of smoke and fumes from homemade kerosene lamps and candles.
The chart to the right illustrates that
there have been significant reductions in the use of kerosene and candles since the installation of the solar power systems. This is a major victory for the project as this was one of the principal targets of the endeavor.

The solar power systems may also eventually help community members in several other ways including providing power for small devices such as cell phones and radios and may make it possible for the establishment of small business activities (e.g. charging small fees for cell phone battery recharge services, computer work such as typing, tutoring etc.).
Another main benefit of the project is that it targets both men and women in an equitable manner. Solar electrification in the homes will benefit all family members. As a traditional Maya village, it was observed that life in Santa Elena can be challenging for women. In this project, equal opportunities exist for men and for women to increase their capacity and to benefit from solar energy.