The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) has announced the completion of its largest solar installation at a remote health clinic in Burundi. The 10 kw solar electric system will provide 90% of the power requirements for the new Village Health Works (VHW) clinic.
SELF technicians built multiple solar arrays containing a total of 98 panels at 130 watts each. Ersol Solar Energy AG (Ersol) donated the solar cells for the project, and Cermet Materials, Inc. contributed the labor and materials required to manufacture the solar panels. Without this system, the clinic’s only alternative for generating electricity came from unreliable diesel generators.
Robert Freling, SELF’s executive director, said: "Compared to the option of using only a diesel generator, it is estimated that the hybrid solar/diesel approach will save VHW approximately $50,000 in annual operating costs – or $1 million over the life of a solar array’s typical 20-year lifespan. Basically the photovoltaic system will completely pay for itself in 4 years, or less if the price of fuel goes up."
VHW is an international non-governmental organization that was established in 2007 and is supported by Partners In Health. SELF is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization working to combat climate change and reduce energy poverty by bringing solar power and wireless Internet access to remote rural villages in the developing world. SELF has pioneered applications using solar power such as drip irrigation in Benin, telemedicine in the Amazon rainforest, vaccine refrigeration in Rwanda, online distance learning in South Africa, and microenterprise development in Nigeria. These successful pilot projects culminated in SELF’s whole-village approach, or Solar Integrated Development model.