Engineers from U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command partnered with The Lamps, a nonprofit organization, to bring power to school children in the coastal city of Mbour, Senegal.

As a part of The Lamps "Let There Be Light" campaign, three Navy engineers dedicated their personal leave time from Feb. 10-19 to visit Mbour, according U.S. Department of Defense.

Peter Cho, an electrical engineer with Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division's marine and aviation division, Bryant Kim, from NSWC's Indian Head Division and Sungshin Kwak, from the Naval Research Laboratory, visited the city located roughly two hours from the capital of Dakar.

The trio installed six solar panels, bringing power and lighting to a community that has been in the dark.

Cho describes the instillation as "a simple, solar electric power systems consisting of panels, batteries, an inverter and circuit breakers, which brings the community enough power to run indoor lights and small appliances."

One of the main reasons Cho makes trips like this is because he emigrated to the United States from South Korea to receive an education and he wanted to pass his education and engineering skills on to others.

"The need in that community, as well as all of the communities we do work in, is immense," Cho said. "Every trip I make, when I come back and arrive at the Dulles International Airport [outside Washington, D.C.], I marvel at what a blessed country the United States truly is," he added.

Cho has recruited a team of 13 engineers that bring solar energy to communities without power, not only on their own personal time, but often with solar panels purchased with their own money.

"The biggest benefit to installing solar panels is they do not require a lot of maintenance," Cho said. "A lot of the communities we visit are close to the equator; sun is abundant. On average, two hours of sun will provide around eight hours of electricity," he added.

Cho and his engineer crew have also installed solar panels in Peru and Cambodia. Even with something as seemingly simple as indoor lighting, Cho says they leave knowing their work has improved the quality of life for the people of that community.

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