News and Announcements
AMORE, Sunpower Philippines continue commitment to provide light to schools in Mindanao
Students of ten rural schools in the Marilog District, some 50 kilometers from downtown Davao, will soon be able to see animated visuals moving to background music and audio, as their school will soon be energized using solar photovoltaic modules.
SunPower Philippines – a leading private solar cells manufacturer – and the Alliance for Mindanao Off-grid Renewable Energy (AMORE) Program signed a Deed of Donation that formally transfers to the program a total of 20 solar panels for rural school electrification.
SunPower VP of Operations, Greg Reichow, and Alliance for Mindanao Off-grid Renewable Energy Program Chief of Party, Jesus ‘Chito’ Francisco, signed a Deed of Donation that formally transfers to the AMORE Program 20 units of solar panels for electrification of ten rural schools. AMORE and SunPower will energize a total of 150 rural schools from 2009 to 2013.
At the SunPower facility in Laguna, SunPower VP of Operations, Greg Reichow, and AMORE Chief of Party, Jesus “Chito” Francisco signed the document that officially donates 20 units of solar panels to the AMORE program.
Each 210-watt peak solar panel is expected to power up multimedia-based distance education facility or information, education and communication (ICT) equipment in the rural schools. SunPower “recognizes the need to support solar projects to help promote sustainability of the community, as well as increase awareness of the public of the efficiency and potential benefits from the use of renewable energy.”
The solar cells company has been an active partner to the AMORE program’s school electrification and distance education project, having been responsible for providing energy access to 80 rural schools in AMORE communities in Mindanao, from 2002 to 2009. In the next four years, AMORE and SunPower Philippines, through its corporate social responsibility arm, SunPower Foundation, aim to bring electricity using renewable energy to at least 150 rural schools.
Since 2002, over 44,000 students in more than 200 rural schools have been benefiting from renewable energy-powered distance education facility provided by AMORE and program partners. Both teachers and students attest to improved teaching and learning experiences amid conditions characterized by poverty and conflict.
AMORE – a rural electrification program by the United States Agency for International Development, the Department of Energy, private energy partners, and Winrock International –has, since 2002, energized more than 13,000 rural households in over 400 barangays across Basilan, Davao, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and the Zamboanga Peninsula.
