Integrated Energy Center Project
Three out every four Haitians live without electricity. Even Haitians who do have access to electricity spend a great deal of time in the dark due to frequent power outages, which in turn hinders access to other basic needs like quality health care, education, sanitation, and security.
In particular, Port-de-Paix, the capital of the Nord-Ouest Départment (Northwestern Department) of Haiti with a population of roughly 250,000, is greatly impacted by this unfavorable energy situation. The Nord-Ouest Départment is said to be the poorest region of Haiti partly because of the insufficient government and international attention given to the region. The area has a scattered supply of electricity and numerous households are disconnected from the national grid.
Our Response
In partnership with TMD Solar Outreach, a subsidiary of the Transformative Materials and Devices laboratory at Yale University, WHI is excited to announce the launch of its first project to design and develop a sustainable Integrated Energy Center (IEC) to serve communities that lack access to modern and clean energy in Haiti! Through continuous research, monitoring and evaluation of the IEC, WHI will be able to improve designs and project reach to better serve those in Haiti who are lacking access to energy and electricity.
Through the IEC pilot program, WHI’s goal is to install a solar power system to a local school and build an integrated energy center that will provide basic energy needs lacking in the surrounding community.
The Integrated Energy Center
Integrated Energy Centers (IEC) are solar powered community centers that can effectively host, provide, and facilitate a range of services, including: energy access, education, health, livelihood, as well as promote employment in underserved communities. They are designed to meet basic needs and services that rely on energy, and are used actively in developing countries like India and South Africa.
Each IEC is custom designed to meet the local environments and situations, and are usually independent units co-located at community center such as schools, hospitals, and libraries and other public spaces; or serve as a hub to provide finance, education, and health services that are difficult to obtain in the community. Additionally, IECs can provide access to information regarding safe, efficient and environmentally sustainable use of energy, energy safe appliances, promote job opportunities through entrepreneurship and energy related businesses, and influence policy on both private and public sectors regarding access to safe and affordable energy.
IECs are owned and operated by individuals living in the community through entrepreneur-based, community-owned, or partner/operator-owned financial and organizational models. IEC’s have significant benefits on education, health, information and awareness and can provide energy services like charged batteries, solar lamps and Wi-Fi hotspot for rent to numerous homes at a very affordable cost.
Overview of Pilot Energy Program
The pilot energy project will focus on providing electricity and energy services to L’école Galilean, a school in Port-de-Paix with 450 students in different grade levels. The school has no access to electricity and the surrounding neighborhood experiences ongoing inconsistency with its power supply leaving students and residents with little to no power at times.
The pilot energy project will be executed in two phases:
- The first phase will focus on research and implementation. The former in the spring of 2016 and the latter in the summer of 2016. For the research phase, taking place in spring of 2016, the WHI team and ground partners will travel to the location to research the community’s basic energy needs, topography, climate, and layout. Relevant information will be gathered through door-to-door surveys, observations, and community panels to inform the structure, model and services of the IEC. More importantly, it will deepen WHI’s understanding of the community and engage its members in the entire process. The goal is to design a tailor-fit and sustainable IEC that accurately depicts the community’s energy needs and wants. Therefore, research and the community’s input will be integral to achieving these goals.
- The second phase is execution. WHI and its partners will build a 5kW solar system and an IEC at L’école Galilean. The solar system will power both the school and the new IEC that will be stocked with equipment and services that best serves the community’s needs.
WHI is honored to be partnering with Transformative Materials and Devices laboratory at Yale University on the pilot energy program in Haiti. TMD Solar Outreach is comprised of a group of students and professors from various fields including engineering, finance, statistics, computer science, and economics.
Make a Donation Today
Join WHI and TMD Lab's pilot energy project by making a donation today and help to bring much-needed energy and electricity to the three out every four Haitians who are currently living without electricity.
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