Central Java – The Chairperson of PYC, Filda C. Yusgiantoro, visited the Solar Panel Pilot Project PYC x BCI research in Gumelar Village, Banyumas, Central Java. During the visit, Filda and the PYC Research Team visited the homes of residence participating in this research (06/02).
Gumelar District is a district in Banyumas Regency, Central Java, dominated by mountains, winding small roads, natural rivers, rice fields, and forests. This district is home to 1.8 million residents who rely on agriculture and livestock as their main livelihood.
The mountainous location, surrounded by forests, often leads to power outages during the rainy season. Fallen trees, landslides, and disturbances from wild animals are the three main reasons why the residents of Gumelar District have to endure days with electrical disruptions, sometimes lasting for several hours before being addressed by the National Electricity Company (PLN). Solar panels in these houses provide many benefits for the residents for their daily activities.
Being on the brink of Banyumas Regency and with difficult access, there is only one PLN network serving the customers in this district. The power network is completely cut off during disturbances without any backup from other distribution units. With this solar panel research project, the beneficiaries can still enjoy electricity even when there are disruptions in the PLN network. On the other hand, the community can save more than half of their expenses for electricity by utilizing clean and sustainable energy.
Although located on the Island of Java, which notably has abundant electricity supply with the strongest power grid in Indonesia, phenomena like this still haunt some small areas that often get neglected by major cities. Drawing from the experience in Gumelar District, PYC is committed to improving energy resilience in small areas through research on new sustainable energy solutions for the community.
