Erika Vargas

Peruvian social entrepreneur who created Latin America's first community-owned microgrid network

Erika Vargas (b.1968) is a Peruvian engineer whose work in rural electrification transformed energy access in the Andes. After studying electrical engineering at Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, she witnessed the 1980s energy crisis firsthand while working in remote Quechua communities. In 1992, she founded Energía Andina, a cooperative that built Latin America's first community-owned solar microgrids using locally sourced materials.

Her participatory design approach involved community members in every stage, ensuring 98% project sustainability rates. By 2000, Energía Andina had electrified 340 communities, connecting 120,000 people. Vargas' 1996 invention of the Andean Solar Box - a low-cost solar water heater - reduced deforestation rates by 40% in project areas. Her work inspired the Rockefeller Foundation's 2002 Rural Energy Initiative.

In 1998, she pioneered the Energy Credit System, allowing communities to pay for installations through renewable energy credits. This model was later adopted by the World Bank's Lighting Africa program. Her 2001 book 《Power to the People》 became a blueprint for decentralized energy projects globally. Despite facing gender discrimination in male-dominated engineering circles, her work contributed to Peru's 2005 Rural Electrification Law.