It’s hot in Cerrito de la Garza, a small hamlet near the town of Ocampo, in the state of Guanajuato. To get there, we take asphalt roads that turn into dirt and are sometimes indistinguishable from the orange of the partitions that we see lying around in the streets, almost as if they were leftovers.
José Juan Manuel García Martínez (41 years old) welcomes us in the patio of his house, which is a patio, but also a brick and partition factory, to which he has dedicated himself for more than 20 years and which he inherited from his parents. “There is the material, which is the earth, and there is the fertilizer,” says Manuel, as he is known at home. “Here is the Presa de la Garza. From there they bring us the material, which is the slatted and ravine earth, which is the raw earth from the hill, then the slatted earth and the ravine earth are mixed with the fertilizer and this is how the partitions and bricks are produced,” he explains.
To make these building materials, Manuel and his assistant use a large gas oven that can hold 15,000 pieces of partitions or 17,000 bricks. Manuel has gotten used to working during the day because until recently he didn’t have electricity at home. And the fact is that the houses arrived in the hamlet of Cerrito de la Garza before basic services.
Aware of this problem in rural communities across the country, since 2019 the Iberdrola México Foundation has implemented the Luces de Esperanza program in localities surrounding its factories, supporting hundreds of families through photovoltaic solar energy and with a cumulative investment of more than 60 million pesos and benefiting almost 9,500 people.
It first started in Huasteca Potosina, in San Luis Potosí, then this social initiative spread to the municipalities of Oaxaca, Puebla, Nuevo León and Guanajuato. It is in this central Mexican state that the program arrived in 2025, with 437 people benefiting from lighting in 105 homes and a community center.
“With Luces de Esperanza we bring more than energy: we bring opportunities. This program reflects Iberdrola México’s commitment to the most remote communities, illuminating homes and transforming lives with clean and sustainable energy. And always ensuring timely monitoring to guarantee its continuity and scalability,” said Erika Fernández, coordinator of the Iberdrola México Foundation, during her visit to the community to review the process of installing the panels in homes.
Continuity and monitoring
“Here, the main use that people give to solar panels is to connect basic elements, such as a blender, a small refrigerator, or to recharge cell phones and portable lamps,” explains José Rivera Carrillo, solar cell installer for Team Iluméxico, a company that collaborates on a technical level in the implementation of Luces de Esperanza.
“We found ourselves in some communities that already have solar cells, but what’s the problem? They install them and that’s where everything stops,” Rivera says. “We have the communication mechanism between the user and the equipment. The meter indicates the error, and if we cannot remedy it over the phone, we intervene as technical staff to resolve the problem and thus ensure the continuity of the equipment.”
Regarding equipment maintenance, Rivera says the panels have a useful life of up to 20 years. The batteries, meanwhile, will last four to six years depending on use. With the program, the commitment to providing the necessary maintenance to these communities is maintained.
Energy education
In addition to the installation of the equipment, Iberdrola México also promotes, through the Concentrarte association, that the communities receive a workshop in which they explain how the panels work and what equipment is optimal to function properly at home.
Manuel’s wife, Olivia, recounts her first days with the light, under the watchful gaze of several residents of her village. “This has been useful for cell phones, because before we used the motorcycles for lighting and they were out of charge,” he says. Today she is happy because she was told that the service only costs 50 pesos per month – the rest of the monthly payment is covered by Iberdrola México – although the deposit must be made at Telégrafos, in the municipality of Ocampo.
In this large patio filled with materials, Olivia takes stock of the arrival of Lights of Hope in her humble community. Among the many advantages, consider it a good idea to see the work tools so that they are not stolen. “With everything dark, you can’t see anything. »
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