--- title: Solar Energy Combats Poverty in Guatemala | TIME description: A small solar panel lets Rufino Pablo Jeronimo, a Guatemalan farmer, run a tailoring business and keep in touch with his brother in America canonical: https://time.com/video/POmEscW6/ og:title: Solar Energy Combats Poverty in Guatemala og:description: A small solar panel lets Rufino Pablo Jeronimo, a Guatemalan farmer, run a tailoring business and keep in touch with his brother in America og:url: https://time.com/video/POmEscW6/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/POmEscW6/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Solar Energy Combats Poverty in Guatemala twitter:description: A small solar panel lets Rufino Pablo Jeronimo, a Guatemalan farmer, run a tailoring business and keep in touch with his brother in America twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/POmEscW6/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Solar Energy Combats Poverty in Guatemala > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Solar Energy Combats Poverty in Guatemala [Watch (HLS stream): Solar Energy Combats Poverty in Guatemala](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/POmEscW6.m3u8) (4:15)  _Published 2009-11-26. A small solar panel lets Rufino Pablo Jeronimo, a Guatemalan farmer, run a tailoring business and keep in touch with his brother in America_ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:16 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [President Trump Slaps Tariffs on Solar Panels in Major Blow to Renewable Energy](/video/CUhoaV6q/) ### President Trump Slaps Tariffs on Solar Panels in Major Blow to Renewable Energy [Financing Options Bringing Solar Energy Home](/video/tKweUDNp/) ### Financing Options Bringing Solar Energy Home [TIME Explains: Solar Energy](/video/0isWJF6a/) ### TIME Explains: Solar Energy --- ## Transcript >> It used to be that when the sun went down in the village of Chenuwitz, the day was done. But this little light bulb is changing that. Rufino Pablo Jeronimo used to spend his day farming to support his family. They'd have just enough to eat. He still farms but now he picks up extra money making clothes for his neighbors. -[ Foreign Language ]. >> Now, there's no need to seek out more work or to travel far for work. >> You won't see any transmission lines within an hour drive of Chenuwitz, so Jeronimo gets his light from this, a small solar panel perched just off the roof of their mud hut. It's only about a foot long and a few inches wide. -[ Foreign Language ]. >> I put this in here. >> When the sun is out, the panel charges this battery, so even in darkness, the Jeronimo family can see. They used to rely on candles and kerosene, which can cause respiratory problems and they weren't cheap. Every two months, Jeronimo would spend the average villagers daily wage about $ 5 on fuel along. And he spent that same amount every week to charge his cellphone plus he'd have to make the hour- long journey to the closest town to charge it. Not anymore. The phone keeps customers flowing to his tailoring business. -[ Foreign Language ] -[ Foreign Language ] >> And with that phone, he can keep in touch with his brother, a migrant worker living in Oakland, California. Jeronimo says, when villagers like his brother return, which they're doing more and more in this economy. They have a hard time adjusting to a home without light. -[ Foreign Language ]. >> When they come back and it's dark, they don't wanna stay. They return because here there's no light. So now we're looking for light so maybe they'll come back again. -[ Foreign Language ]. >> The system cost about $ 200. Each family pays half. The rest comes from donations to the non- profit group Cause Canada. >> Even though 5 watts might seem little when you can have any that makes the whole world of difference. >> Villagers are taking advantage of the opportunity. The people here applied to the Guatemala in government to bring electricity to their village. But they say, they were told Chenuwitz is too small and too remote to be connected to the national grid. Experts say the panels provide a solution for the villagers, who were among the two billion people world- wide who aren't linked into a grid. -[ Foreign Language ]. >> When you bought energy is one of the answers to combating this big problem we had in this country for centuries, poverty. >> The hope is that the panels bring light and with it empowerment. Organizers want the people of Chenuwitz to spread the word and the panels without outside help. >> We want them to be able to make their own contacts to make their own selves to create a financial system. >> There are challenges Jeronimo, one of the projects coordinators must travel to larger towns to buy supplies like batteries. And some of his local partners have left Chenuwitz and the project behind to find work in the United States. It hasn't grown as fast as some would like, still in the coming months, organizers planned to expand to the next town over. It's only five watts they say, but it's a start. 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