Reflective Analysis of a Volunteer-Installed Off-grid PV System for a Remote Peruvian Community Centre

In many parts of the world without access to electricity, small off-grid photovoltaic systems can be utilized to improve the lives of the disadvantaged by providing basic access to a reliable and sustainable source of electricity. The technology is proven and widely available, but without the aid of charities, donors, and volunteers, it remains inaccessible and unaffordable to many. Light Up the World (LUTW) is a Canadian non-profit organization that partners with donors and volunteers to provide small off-grid PV systems for remote communities in Peru. Under LUTW stewardship, engineering and engineering technology student volunteers embark on short overseas missions to install off-grid PV systems to identified fringe communities. These mutually beneficial field trips allow students from a highly developed society the opportunity to see the world from a very different perspective, to understand some of the challenges facing remote and impoverished communities and to demonstrate humanitarianism and global citizenship. The field trips also provide student volunteers with authentic and immersive field experiences related to off-grid PV systems, and the institutional expectation is that this first-hand experience would allow students to develop proficiency in off-grid PV system design. However, transforming concrete field experiences into technological know-how requires time and reflection and is most effective when it occurs a structured learning environment where the reflective activities are matched to learning objectives. This paper presents, by way of a case study of a 2018 field trip, an example of how reflective analysis was used to help students realize the cognitive objectives related to off-grid PV system design and strengthening the overall learning experience and value of the humanitarian field trip.