Tag Archives: solar energy in haití

Haití

Haití Solar PV

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Although slow, Haiti’s economic and social recovery appears to have begun and to give a strong boost to renewable energy sources, particularly photovoltaics, has been a wise decision.

First important signal has come through a humanitarian organization, whose mission is to modernize health in the world, which has opened with the Haitian Ministry of Health, the world’s largest solar powered hospital.

Facilities receive the contribution of 1,800 photovoltaic modules installed in the roof that enable medical attention of more than 60,000 people.

Resultado de imagen de hospital solar haití

Second signal is called Klere Ayiti or Light Up Haití.

It is a joint project between a money transfer company and Arc Finance, in which also collaborates the Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

It´s a service through which people can buy and send photovoltaic kits to their relatives on the island.

Each solar kit includes 2 or 3 LED lights, solar module charger, and various plugs with which cell phones can also be charged.

The lights can be used as flashlights or hanging from the ceiling and kits cost US $ 140 and US $ 180, respectively.

The project organizers chose the kit model from 25 different manufacturers evaluated over a period of 2 years.

It´s a product that gives families the possibility of having light at night, something we take for granted in developed world and that implies a radical progress for these people.

Resultado de imagen de light up haití

Third signal materialized in February 2016 in the mythical Champ de Mars square in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, where the Presidential Palace is located.

The square has since then a lithium-ion energy storage system powered by 110 kW of solar modules to provide light and Wi-fi in this public area.

Resultado de imagen de energía solar haití

Fourth signal is called the “Triumphe” project and is the first photovoltaic plant in Haiti.

The system has an installed capacity of 100 kW configured so that contribution coincides with the daily demand of 200 kWh.

The ‘Triumphe’ project will assess the potential of similar applications to support renewable energy in Haiti.

Project was launched thanks to Haitian Government and World Bank Energy Office financing and is a symbol in renewable energy generation.

But above all it represents Haiti’s continuous efforts to recover from 2010 earthquake that destroyed a large strip of the capital and its environs, which affected around 3 million people.

Renewable energy systems such as Triumphe represent a sustainable means to address persistent poverty and lack of basic public services in the country, including energy access, water and support for socio-economic development tools such as wireless internet access.

Resultado de imagen de solar fotovoltaica haití

Haiti, with a population of 10,123,787 inhabitants and a poverty rate of 77%, is considered one of the poorest countries in the world.

All you need is Sun. All you need is Sopelia.

Haití

Haití Solar Thermal

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Devices that capture solar thermal energy range from collectors placed on the roofs to parabolic dishes or solar towers used in large systems that concentrate sunlight, produce heat and generate electricity.

Solar thermal devices are used in countries such as Haiti to:

* Solar water disinfection (SODIS)

By solar light and PET plastic bottles. UV rays exposure eliminates pathogens and bacteria providing a source of clean water and reducing water diseases transmission.

Resultado de imagen de sodis

* Solar Pasteurization

Using a solar cooker and water pasteurization indicators (WAPIs). Solar cooker heats the water and WAPI (small tubes / capsules with melting wax at 65 ° C, temperature with which viruses and bacteria die) indicates when it is suitable for consumption, saving fuel and reducing water diseases transmission.

Resultado de imagen de solar pasteurization

* Solar food dryer

Box with glazed lid and opening + mesh frames. Foods are placed in mesh racks and dried as the sun warms the box. Reduce use of fossil fuels, pollution and post-harvest losses.

Resultado de imagen de solar food dryer

* Solar kitchen

Heat trap boxes, curved concentrators and cooker panel. A device (mirror or reflective metal) concentrates light and heat inside a small cooking area. Reduce reliance on traditional fuels such as wood or coal and reduce indoor pollution.

Resultado de imagen de cocina solar

* Solar water heater

Solar thermal collector + water storage tank. Collector heats the fluid passing through it and heat is stored in the tank. Reduces reliance on traditional fuels; reduces carbon emissions and local pollution.

Resultado de imagen de solar water heater

Constant earthquakes cause many people in Haiti to live outdoor and in very bad conditions.

As they say, “here the sun never fails us.”

However, charcoal is life and scourge of Haitians. Without it, they don´t eat.

97% of the country is deforested. Each person consumes the equivalent of 500 kilograms of wood a year and an average family leaves half of their profits in firewood purchase.

Erosion is the big problem. People cut trees to survive; there is no other way to living.

This country needs a permanent solidarity commitment from international community.

An example of this is solar cooker project for Mont-Organisé.

Devices are based on solar concentration: they generate thermal energy from sunlight that passes through a lens. Energy is stored in a thermal “battery” that maintains heat for 20 hours, and therefore allows cooking at night.

Materials chosen to make the kitchens are sustainable, biodegradable and the device obviously does not need fuel.

Project is developed in collaboration with Italian Microcredit Agency, Federico II Naples University Agrarian Department, Tesla IA SRL and PACNE NGO.

In addition to financing, solar energy expansion to poor people requires a mix of scientific improvements, policy initiatives and collective action to combat climate change and energy access lack.

All you need is Sun. All you need is Sopelia.

Haití

Haití Solar Energy

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Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, where electricity is only available for very few people, while the vast population majority can only rely on kerosene lamps for lighting and on wood from the forests for other uses.

For a long time, Haiti has suffered problems in its energy supply, so much so that more than 70% of its population does not have daily access to a reliable electricity source.

The country covers all of its energy demand with supplies from Petrocaribe, a regional project that benefits 18 Caribbean region countries to which Venezuela supplies oil and oil products under favorable payment conditions.

It is also part of Petrocaribe Energy Security Treaty (TSE), signed in 2007, by which signatory nations made a commitment to develop, as far as possible, projects for renewable energies promotion.

Since 2010, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has provided funds to Haitian government to develop a new energy infrastructure that takes advantage of country’s wind, solar and hydroelectric potential.

Among the projects financed are Peligre hydroelectric plant rehabilitation, country’s largest renewable energy source.

The institution also funds projects to develop solar energy use as energy source in health and education sectors.

Devastating consequences caused by frequent earthquakes in much of the Caribbean country leave population exposed to social instability dangers still present.

Resultado de imagen de potabilizadoras solares móviles

One specific action is mobile water treatment plants use, which allow different types of water purification and obtain productions from 500 to 7,500 liters / day, according to the water source; only with the energy of its 3 photovoltaic panels.

Charcoal (70% of national energy consumption) is the main energy source in kitchens of majority Haiti inhabitants, lacking in electrical energy. The result is that today forest area only covers 2% of territory.

Deforestation is a direct cause of soil erosion, which increases Haiti’s vulnerability to extreme weather events such as hurricanes, droughts and floods that may be more intense each year as a climate change result.

But little by little, renewable energy makes its way.

Toussaint Louverture Avenue, one of main arteries of Port-au-Prince, lights up every night with its solar lamps; as well as other public spaces of this capital and some municipalities of the country.

Resultado de imagen de energía solar haití

The Nouvelle Grand Anse Fundation has signed an agreement with the NGO Cubasolar to create in Dekade town a renewable energy reference center for surrounding region and the whole country.

Haiti president-elect made a tour of energy plants in Dominican Republic in early 2017.

He visited plants of Punta Catalina project (2 coal plants), Monte Plata Solar project and AES Dominicana consortium’s electricity generation plant; which supplies 40% of the energy consumed by the country.

It’s a good gesture.

Dominican Republic and Haiti must normalize their relations, as Dominicans and Haitians must work together and collaborate to improve their energy generation matrix.

All you need is Sun. All you need is Sopelia.