Plinio Leite da Encarnacao has lived his whole life in one of the most bio-diverse places on earth. So he was alarmed to watch as the plants and animals of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest became increasingly threatened. Illegal logging, hunting and fishing practices were rapidly destroying the ecosystem, which in turn led to increased health problems for the local communities, including an outbreak of malaria.

Plinio decided to take action to protect the rainforest and its inhabitants, so he co-founded the Associacao Amazonia, which oversees the Xixuau-Xiparina Ecological Reserve. The reserve serves as a hub for communications throughout the region and people come from far and wide to access resources like a communications center, telephone and health clinic–all of which are powered by solar energy. The Reserve is located in a remote part of the rainforest, which is very far from the national electric grid. So they had to figure out the best source of electricity. They considered a number of renewable resources, but ultimately the only solution that was truly viable, clean and safe for the community and the local ecosystem was solar.

Plinio’s dream is to some day acquire enough solar panels to provide electricity to the entire community. In the meantime, he and his team are helping local communities enormously through creative uses of the photovoltaic system they have, improving the lives of their citizens and protecting the treasured rainforest ecosystem for generations to come.