IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2019 - 50

identified by their previous work or interest in energyrelated issues. Invitations were sent to community leaders through community organizations, NGOs, and
community organizers. During each colloquium, groups
were formed so that participants could interact with
other leaders from different communities. Each group
worked together throughout each day, participating in
short presentations (capacity building) followed by group
discussions about solar communities. Community leaders exchanged ideas on conservation, efficiency, and
renewable energy projects. They also discussed conditions that would ensure that rules and regulations for
community projects would be appropriate, nonrestrictive, account for the local context, and that they would
enable (not be a roadblock to) local energy projects. The
discussions were recorded in written format by each
group (data gathering). The last activity was creating
posters where each group presented their vision of an
ideal solar community. This was chance for groups to
integrate what they had learned during each colloquium
and their experiences in their respective communities.
Because each group explained their poster to others,

this activity also facilitated a broader discussion among
all colloquium participants. The written posters also
served as a qualitative assessment on the effectiveness
of the engagement during each colloquium.
The social science students analyzed the data gathered from these colloquia, to study reactions and perceptions about solar communities and microgrids.

Bayamón Colloquium (Northern Region)

The key outcome of the Bayamón Colloquium was the
willingness to work and implement solar projects as a
community. Some of the obstacles mentioned were
scarce economic resources, non-existing sense of
community, and problems with the utility. Other concerns were social agreements on the level of energy
use, time needed to recover the investment, and evidence of how much customers would be saving on
their energy bills. On the other hand, there was no
recorded statement on changing energy use levels.
There was an agreement that the project should be
organized in phases starting with a small group and
then progress to the whole community. Any solar initiative should be organized by the community with help
of the utility or a private company, but the community
should own the PV systems installed. Regarding administration, there was consensus that the communities
Community's Goals
should be involved, although for technical reasons, the
(Aspirations)
utility or a private company could help in the process.
Community's Values
The group agreed that there should be a utility fee for
Community's
the use of lines and equipment. In addition, the projVision and Plans
ects must be green, sustainable, and each system
Natural Surroundings
must address the needs of each community. The comCommunity's History
mon objective was empowerment of the communities.
Group participants demonstrated their capacity to
0
5
10
15
20
25
carry out diagnoses of their situations by choosing
Nothing
Not Much
A Lot
which model to use for their communities, and by
demonstrating planning and organization capacities
that are important in the process of empowering a
FIGURE 2. How well a "solar community concept" matches
community. Forty percent of the 65 participants had
aspects of a community (Bayamón).
previously received information
about energy efficiency and
conservation, for example the
use of high efficiency equipCommunity as the Focus and Main Player
ment and solar water heaters.
Support Training of Young People, Retraining of Adults
Figures 2-4 show key results
Develop Local Capacity and Opportunities
from the written exercises each
Participants Are Responsible for the Costs
group completed in Bayamón.
About 66% of participants were
Economically, Environmentally and Socially Good
willing to partner with other
Maximize Renewable Energy
sectors. These community leadFlexible, Allow Different Structures
ers seemed to recognize that
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
changing existing conditions is
a complex task that requires
FIGURE 3. Ideal characteristics of a solar community program (Bayamón).
collaboration, since the electric

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SEPTEMBER 2019

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2019

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