A collaboration between EWB-UK and Sunlabob, a manufacturer of renewable energy technology based in Laos, has proved so successful that they have asked the charity for more volunteers.

The joint project, which is being overseen by the Lao Institute for Renewable Energy (LIRE), initially requested one volunteer to help with the testing, implementation and installation of a solar powered water purification system.

However the placement has impressed the managers of Sunlabob so much, that they are already discussing collaboration with EWB-UK on future projects.

Andrew Murfin, the volunteer who was selected by EWB-UK to undertake the project, began his three month placement at the start of July and is currently based in Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

This is the first time that EWB-UK has worked with either Sunlabob or LIRE.

The collaboration was brought about after Dhruv Kumar, a EWB-UK volunteer, met the managing director at the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy in 2007; the same year that Sunlabob won an award for its electrification of rural villages using solar power.

He then spent a year arranging the details with Sunlabob and LIRE before Andrew Murfin could be sent out.

Gareth Haslam, who now project manages the collaboration, said that he and Dhruv were particularly impressed with the sustainability of the projects Sunlabob promotes.

“The interesting thing about Sunlabob is that they want to make these projects sustainable both environmentally and in an economic sense. Their solar lamp rental scheme is a really innovative way of bringing affordable renewable energy to village communities. Cruicially, Sunlabob's staff have won the trust of these communities and have implemented schemes which pay for their own maintenance, ensuring their longevity.”

An individual or a group are responsible for the technology so in the case of the electrification [of rural villages] there was a village committee that decided how best to charge and organise payment”.

“The same is also true of the project Andy is on”.

Andrew Murfin, an experienced engineer with MWH and volunteer with EWB-UK, will work to develop a solar powered water purification system that will provide inhabitants in remote villages with the means to purify their own water.

With most of the villages in Laos not being attached to the national grid and with dry firewood in short supply many villagers often lack the means to purify their own water either through filtration or boiling.

Besides malaria, diseases caused by drinking unpurified water are now the biggest cause of infant mortality in the country.

Through the combination of a water purification system combined with its own independent energy source, the project managers hope the technology will help resolve two of the two main factors behind the high rate of infant mortality and help generate income for remote villages as the purified water can be bottled and sold locally.

Sunlabob, which received the National Energy Globe award for sustainability in 2007, specialises in the manufacture of technology to provide remote villages with an independent source of energy through solar or wind technology.

“Laos is a very interesting country that’s only recently started opening up to outside influences”, said Haslam, “and there’s still quite a lot of basic infrastructure that needs to be put in”.

“You hope that their engineers can take care of these problems, but in Laos engineers are hard to find”

“I think that with Andy’s background, he is delivering something that is essential”.

This is also reported on Sunlabob's website, www.sunlabob.com

• Read more about EWB-UK's placements in 2008