Lights On

Atop a mountain on an island in Rwanda’s Lake Burera, 60 K-6 Birwa Primary School students are able to study until the evening hours and their teachers are using digital education tools regularly thanks to seven new solar panels generating electricity for the school.

Accessible by a 20-minute boat ride, the school is not connected to the area’s power grid. When Jenni Mangala learned about a potential project to install solar panels at the school, she said yes.

Mangala’s family is from Congo, and she speaks French, which is one of Rwanda’s official languages. This is the first undergraduate-led project of its kind in the College of Engineering.

Passionate about renewable energy and expanding access to electricity, Mangala coordinated the planning, fundraising and installation from 7,000 miles away and across a 6-hour time difference. A Park Scholar, Mangala earned her B.S. in electrical engineering in May and her M.S. in December 2024 through the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering’s accelerated bachelor’s / master’s program.

The panels were installed in August by MySol, which is part of the larger Rwandan company ENGIE Energy Access Rwanda.

The project took nearly two years. Mangala first visited the school in 2022 on a summer study abroad trip, and she returned in 2023. That year, she started a fundraising campaign for the solar panels with assistance from College of Engineering advancement staff.

Her efforts inspired NC State alumni and students to donate to the project, and Hitachi Energy contributed $12,000. She raised just under $19,000.

Mangala found it challenging to coordinate the project while balancing her classes, presidency of NC State’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers and other commitments.

“But what’s been fun has been being able to talk about the project with other people and share the work that I’ve been doing,” she said. “And having an opportunity to inspire others to do more, like really impactful service or international work.”