PV Powered Nicaraguan Medical Clinic
By Joseph Marino
DC Power Systems is proud to
announce the completed donation and installation of a solar electric system to
the Maria Luisa Ortiz Cooperative
Women’s Clinic in Mulukukú, Nicaragua, a remote and impoverished area
lacking a dependable full-time electrical supply. Suni Solar (part of the Grupo Fenix) helped with the entire project, enthusiastic and
professional.
The installation, consisting of 48 Sharp
185W modules, two Xantrex SW 4548 inverters, and 3100 pounds of a back-up
battery system, is currently the largest grid-tied photovoltaic system in
Nicaragua. (largest period-RK! The
system will produce over 50,000 Watts
per day. It is expected to fully power the clinic, and should even provide
some excess energy for other community needs. The system took months of
preparation, fourteen hours of driving on creek-bed roads, and ten days of
installation work. Sun, dust, heat and malaria pills were the order of the day.
In the future, we hope to power-up the
local radio station and the small library with this system. A solar powered
radio station will be able to broadcast any time necessary, a huge benefit to
public safety in this hurricane-prone area, and also allow residents access to
news programs in the morning hours. Further, we hope to use this system to
power a free internet coffee house, and are hoping to find other partner
organizations to supply the internet connections and computers. Father Carmelo
of the local Catholic church, who is also Superintendent of the local high
school and thirty-four village grammar schools, is particularly interested in
this part of the project: “Access to the world-wide-web, in many cases for the
first time in their lives, will help prepare Mulukuku’s students towards a
brighter future,” agree both Joseph and Father Carmelo.
The clinic was founded in 1990 by Dorothy
Granada, a renowned human rights activist and recipient of the International
Pfeffer Peace Prize. To learn more about Dorothy visit her website at www.peacehost.net/Dorothy. Today,
the clinic treats over 12,000 patients a year and is the primary health
provider for the roughly 40,000 residents of Mulukukú and surrounding 34 plus
villages, offering services including birthing assistance and prenatal care,
examinations (including for cancer), dental work, pharmacy services, emergency
care for wounds and injuries, naturopathic and acupuncture care, and
psychological counseling. As the second or third poorest country in the world,
where people that do have jobs may make a Dollar a day, all these services are
provided free of charge, making the Women’s Clinic entirely dependent on
donations like the DC Power solar electric system.
According to Philip Beard, this
installation will have a dramatic impact on the continued success of the
clinic, and on the lives of the residents of Mulukukú. “The good work the
clinic does is currently dependent on unreliable electricity,” he said. “This
installation will hugely contribute to the clinic’s ability to continue saving
lives, by making it energy self-sufficient in an entirely sustainable way.”
DC Power Systems was happy to supply a
majority of the donation for this system with a retail value of over $100,000,
with further fundraising by Joseph Marino, Philip Beard and the Women’s
Empowerment Network. We would like to extend a hearty “Thank you” to all the
people who donated time or money towards this project, and in particular to
Douglas Gonzalez Martinez and Larry Sebrano of Suni Solar, who helped build and will maintain this wonderful
project. Also thank you to Noel Montoya, Grettel Sequeira, Carmen and Vilma,
Danilo, Byron, Sue Howe, and Natali, all of whom joined forces in the
installation with DC Power engineers Joseph Marino and Aaron Wellendorf.
Project Concern International Nicaragua also assisted with this project, as
well as Jeanne Trombly of Fiber Futures in California.
The Mulukukú Women’s Clinic is the first
recipient of what Joseph Marino hopes will be many donations of solar
installations to similar communities in the coming years. If you are interested
in making a donation to this ongoing project, please contact Joseph Marino at
707-433-5824, or joseph@dcpower-systems.com.
Actually, Suni Solar did a lot of the
design work and supervised as well as furnished most of the work for the
installation. I was there for the first
few days, and helped teach the half-day course for the clinic workers who will
maintain the system.They have already hooked up the Sandinista radio station to
run using surplus power. The photo below shows the finished
installation.- Rich Komp
