SEA Supports Universidad de Pamplona - Colombia Solar Installation Project

SEA is proud to have provided funding for a solar installation project by students at the Universidad de Pamplona - Colombia.

The students worked with the U’wa indigenous community in northeast Colombia to install solar panels, train members of the community in the maintenance and use of the equipment, and develop micro craft businesses to boost the economy without losing the community’s identity. The solar panels supply energy for cooling medicine and food as well as power the local school.

The UP Colombia team won first place in the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Latin America & Caribbean Region Student/Young Professional Contest. The contest promotes the development of science and technology in the energy field focusing on sustainable development and highlighting social, environmental and economic impact.

In addition to winning the top prize in the AAPG contest, the UP Colombia students have been active in a number of other ways. They have brought an awareness of the multiple facets of energy to their campus through monthly meetings. Two of their members, Luis Gentil Sua Peñaloza and Camilo Andrés Sierra Gualdrón, traveled to Cartagena, Colombia to attend ACGGP’s 1st Energy and Sustainability Summit, where they met with global experts and participated in a multidisciplinary dialogue about climate change, sustainable development and the energy transition in Colombia.

SEA’s ties with the Universidad de Pamplona - Colombia run deep and include Paula Ramirez, a UP Colombia alum, who was part of the SEA team that installed solar power at the village of Gunchukwa in Northern Colombia featured in the documentary film Switch On.