Solar power prices have been plummeting in Mexico, which is good news for renewable energy advocates but potentially bad news for indigenous people. Much of the land suited for solar or wind projects are owned by rural communities that have historically been marginalized, according to Paolo Cisneros of Mexican organization Laboratorio de Investigación en Control Reconfigurable (LiCore). They’re at risk of exploitation from corporate interests, but the roughly 2,000 residents of Ucareo have a potential solution.

LiCore engineer Fortino Mendoza, a Ucareo native, established the relationship between the community and LiCore. They’re raising money for the community solar effort, COOPEREN, on GoFundMe. With the money, they aim to build a solar plant generating power to be sold to the national electric utility.

Cisneros told Inhabitat they’d envisioned the money being used for infrastructure repairs, “but it can just as easily go toward social programming, public awareness campaigns, or anything else…that is entirely up to the people of Ucareo.”

They aim to raise $15,000 on GoFundMe for a 6.4-kilowatt peak preliminary solar plant. Cisneros told Inhabitat one concern they had was how to ensure people could feel confident their money would indeed go to good use. He said, “Truth be told, GoFundMe doesn’t have a way of policing how people spend the money they raise. In response, we’ve committed to maintaining a really active dialogue with our donors.

Read the full article about the seeking social justice through renewable energy project by Lacy Cooke at Inhabitat.