The total of 440 solar power modules with a peak output of 230 watts each are the third SolarWorld aid delivery to the island state shaken by the disastrous earthquake one year ago. Clean solar power is the most cost-effective form of energy to supply to the health centers and maintain their medical infrastructure far from the national utility grid. ??
With its solar power modules, SolarWorld is contributing to a better and more reliable basic health-care system in the disaster area. Thanks to our local partners, the power systems can be installed without any undue delay, says Dr.-Ing. E. h. Frank Asbeck, chairman and CEO of SolarWorld AG. ??
The impulse for this aid came from Larry Hagman, known from the television series Dallas, who has provided SolarWorld testimonials calling for the clean and risk-free energy supply of solar power. For more than 10 years, Hagman has been actively involved in SELF. The people in Haiti urgently need help. A power grid does not exist there anymore. Diesel supplies are expensive and unsafe. Solar energy is the most suitable source of energy to supply hospitals with electricity, Larry Hagman says.??
SELF coordinates the project and, step by step, replaces expensive diesel generators in the hospitals in cooperation with the international health and aid organization Partners In Health (PIH). As important medical facilities in Port-au-Prince were destroyed the importance of the health centers in the rural regions increased. The situation is exacerbated by many people fleeing the city after the earthquake, adds Robert Freling, executive director of SELF. The hospitals are now reaching their limits. ??
Within the framework of the program Solar2World, the German company supports development organizations with off-grid solar power solutions. Owing to its production and sales sites in the USA, SolarWorld AG can now make its products available more quickly.
The solar power modules are expected to arrive in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince in mid-December. The systems will be installed in La Colline, Arrondissement de Lascahobas, Thomonde, Petite Riviere and Verrettes.
With SELF and PIH, SolarWorld implemented a project in the hospital of Boucain-Carré, Haiti, in 2009. Immediately after the earthquake in January 2010, the solar technology group rendered instant aid by supplying the aid organization Water Missions International with solar modules that provide power to operate water pumping stations.
