We’re long
overdue in doing this particular post and since I (David) have yet to do a blog
post a certain party thought that I should do it J.
For those of you who don’t know, we have completed installation of a
large Solar system for the hospital and I would like to share some of the
highlights from this process.
This project
has been especial fulfilling to me, as it was one of the first projects I got
involved with as an intern here. Within the first month after we moved here in 2014 there was a small team here to evaluate our
electrical system and recommend improvements.
We had been experiencing many problems related to “bad” power and we
were damaging circuitry on various types of equipment. This team, comprised of John Jackson
(Electrical Engineer), Duane Steffen (Controls Engineer with significant
experience repairing/upgrading HL’s existing electrical system), John Smucker
(Owner of a solar installation business experienced in “off-grid” systems) and
David Wright (Hydro Generation Mechanic), evaluated our existing
equipment/structure and gave recommendations on how we could improve. Many of their recommendations were put into
place and we quickly saw significant improvements in our power quality. We reduced our load by 25% by switching to
LED lights and making improvements to the generators.
The biggest
recommendation the team had was to install a solar system. This was viewed as the best way to reduce the
amount of money spent on diesel fuel annually as well as improving the quality
of the power produced. There is no “utility”
power available to our area. The nearest
power poles are several miles from us and for us to have the power company
complete the remaining distance it would have cost several hundred thousand
dollars. After this we still would have
had to pay about 50 cents a kWh (you can make power with a diesel generator
cheaper than that) and the power is not on all of the time anyway. Due to this,
“utility” power was not an option. We
have two hydro generators but they only work when you have enough water, and for
the past two years we have been in a drought and only able to run them part
time. Considering all of these factors
along with the expense of fuel for diesel generators, we started to raise money
for the purchase of the system and began the initial stages of design. We are humbled at how quickly the church
responded and met our initial estimate for what they system would cost! Due to many factors the systems design
preceded slowly and, I’ll admit, at times I was more than a little frustrated
at this. Every month that went by was a
month we were spending money on diesel and losing equipment due to “bad” power;
however, God was using this as lesson in His timing.
Smuckers
Energy is John Smucker’s company. They
are based in Pennsylvania and were responsible for the design and installation
of the system. While the system was
being designed they submitted a request to a company named Solar World for
50,000 watts worth of solar panels (around 250 panels). Solar World has some USA based manufacturing
but their headquarters are in Germany.
They produce a very high quality product and have a history of making
small donations to organizations who are seeking to improve the lives of
others. After our request for a donation
was submitted we began to hear more about their donation program and that many
of their donations were more in the range of 2-4,000 watts with a max of 20,000
per project. Getting the full amount we
had asked for seemed highly unlikely.
Meanwhile God was working in hearts of the Solar World Executives. They were really excited about our project,
the USA execs submitted it to the Germany Execs. Solar World has donated panels for several other hospitals in Haiti in the past, and were at the point where
they were looking for another similar project to donate to, right at the time
we made our request. We eventually
received a request form Solar World.
Would we be willing to split our project into two separate projects? The design could stay the same but in name it
would be two projects. If we could do
this they would like to stretch their previous max of 20,000 watts per project
to 25,000 and give it to us twice! Umm,
OK! A testament to God’s behind the
scenes working. A company, as far as I
know secular, had more than doubled the largest donation they had ever given an
organization. The retail value of this
donation is around $90,000! By this point
in the design process we were at a point of two options, the one we could
afford on our budget, and the ideal one for what we needed. This donation allowed us to build what was
viewed as our ideally sized system with a total of 85,000 watts of production
capacity!
Solar World
continued to work quickly and the panels were on their way to us. Meanwhile the design had been finalized and
dates set for installation. Waiting on
the arrival of the solar panels and some battery items were the only
outstanding items. As the time for
installations got closer we began to get nervous these items were not going to
make it on time. Long story short we did
the installation in two segments with a period of around 3 weeks in
between. The panels arrived after the
first segment but before the last and the battery components arrived just days
before the last segment began. In other
words despite two years of design, this system could not have been installed
any sooner. God’s timing.
Installation
went very well with a great crew of people.
It started raining during the first week, starting the beginning of the
first real rainy season we’ve seen in Haiti.
Work was still completed on the roof that week, but it was more critical
that the second work week be able to work and get everything done. It rained and rained up until the second work
team arrived, but stopped just in time for them to start working. We were very blessed and excited to have
Jaylin, Arlen, Lucas, and Tim and Myra here from Forrest during the second
segment! Their help was critical in
completing the project on time. The
Forrest team finished up with their part on Wednesday with time to spare, and
we were able to just hang out for the afternoon together and have a blessed
evening of worship before they headed out late that night/early Thursday
morning. We had great laughs and made
memories that will last a life time! It
showed us just how much our Forrest family means to us. The rest of the team had programming, final connections
and troubleshooting to do, and they finished on time on Friday. After debriefing that night, we headed back
up to the Hospital to run through more troubleshooting information. We took umbrellas because it had started to
rain again.
This power building is the first "new construction" building that has been built since we moved here. It was started in September of 2015, and was completed in time for the installation. In one part of the power building is my new office, so I can be close to keep an eye on everything.
The system
has been running very well! It is one of 3 such system in Haiti, has a total of
324 solar panels, and the batteries alone weigh 12,500 lbs! It provides nearly 100 percent of the power
the hospital needs. We are considering
some changes in the future that would allow us to power our entire campus with
the solar system during the day and power everything with our hydro through the
night. This would reduce the amount of
diesel fuel needed annually even more.
For the time being, I believe we have the best quality power Hospital
Lumiere has ever had, and we are realizing a savings on the diesel fuel we need
to purchase as well.
Today, Solar World released a video and some information about the solar system and their donation towards it for their PR. Here are a few links to view those:
Many thanks
to all involved but especially to God!
A very interesting and informative post! Thanks for the explanations and including many photos. We appreciate it. Our prayers are with you. Marvin and Nancy
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