Hear What Haitians Say about the IEEE/Sirona Haiti Rural Electricity Project!

The following video is footage that I took during the trip a couple of weeks ago.  I went to Haiti to visit all six of our units and interview our Operators, Field Technicians and most importantly, our customers.

• All 240 original customers are paying their leases each month (roughly $6.70 US) for basic energy in their homes supplied by rechargeable battery kits. 
• All six Operators love the equipment and every one has asked for more. 
• Over 2,000 homes are on our waiting list at the moment, and all of those are within the vicinity of an operating system.  

As we have the funding to expand we will reach many people and provide a life-changing service.  Because our model is economically sustainable, it provides a rate of return to potential investors.

Thanks to the IEEE volunteers who built and funded these six stations, to the Haitian government for inviting us to their energy sector strategic planning workshop, to the amazing supporters of our work, and most of all, to our Haitian customers and crew who have made this a success.

We are currently raising funds to expand our program and set up in-country assembly facilities.  Please watch the video and consider a donation of any size.  Many thanks, in advance! 

Haiti's Energy Sector Invites Alternative Energy Solutions

Last Monday and Tuesday I was invited to participate in the strategic planning process for the Government of Haiti's energy sector.  It was a fascinating workshop focused upon one goal: getting energy to Haitians.  President Martelly spoke to us thanking us for our assistance.  He pointed out that Haiti must develop energy solutions so that commerce, education and healthcare can move forward.  His administration has named energy as a key issue, and it was very clear that this group was focused on solutions, not talk.

The utility, EDH, has an overwhelmed grid which needs significant improvement to begin serving the population effectively.  It was clear that this will take years, and rather than wait the goal of this workshop was to consider alternative energy projects that could help bring energy to Haitians beyond the grid.  Sirona was invited to give a 20 minute presentation and it was very well received.  Rather than promote studies, we were able to give evidence of a concrete program that is providing an energy solution to 240 homes today in rural Haiti. During my presentation I turned on the light from a home kit.

It was, needless to say, very impressive that our IEEE/Sirona Haiti program had 100% payment for three months straight from our original customers.  There was no incident of theft, loss or damage to any of our equipment, and the waiting list exceeds 2,000 homes eager to participate.  I am thrilled to announce that following this workship we are working on several fronts to scale our pilot in the coming months and begin Haitian assembly of new SunBlazer units.  There were other solar, hydro and wind groups that gave impressive presentations.  My takeaway was this:  Haiti is keen on exploring and promoting alternative energy as it improves it's grid, and this is a very positive step for Haitians.

In a developed country the per capita energy consumption per year is 4,000Kw.  In Jamaica, a developing country, the per capita energy consumption per year is 2100Kw (basic electricity is available to the majority of Jamaican homes).  In Haiti, the figure is only 75Kw per capita, per year.  There is plenty of room for many solutions to work together, and I believe that in the future Haiti may become a leader in alternative energy for taking this innovative approach to their current problem.

I have been working on two UN Foundation working groups to advise the Secretary General on next years UN Campaign: The Year of Access to Sustainable Energy for All.  The goal of the campaign is to get sustainable energy to the 4 billion people who currently lack it by 2030.  It was exciting to see Haiti taking these steps, and I will not be surprised to see them lead the world in the future by supplying a great deal of their population with renewable energy. 

Chasing Away the Night One Village at a Time

Please enjoy this guest blog from Rick Davis, Tech Assist Haiti:

One does not have to spend time in Haiti to appreciate the simple miracle that is artificial light. Each of us has memories of camping trips or major utility blackouts or hurricanes that we can reach back to and recall how absolutely dark is the night on this planet of ours.

An occasional foray into the night of the wilderness does not frighten us. It does not change our lifestyle. Our children are not impacted in their futures by lack of light. It’s just a camping trip. It is just a temporary utility problem. It’s just a hurricane. Soon we will be back in our warm cocoon of light; turning on a switch to chase away the night.

IEEE and Sirona Cares are chasing away the night for the rural people of Haiti one village at a time.

I was thrilled to be able to visit one of the six sites where an IEEE/Sirona entrepreneur-managed charging station is based. What I saw has convinced me that lighting a million homes in Haiti is possible using this model.

Michelle Lacourcere has posted the facts of her recent review of the sites. The facts are as stated. The people are not only extending their days into the night they are gaining a tremendous amount of self respect. In Haiti as in just about every place in the world there is a social divide between rural and urban populations; we certainly have that here in the United States. The simple act of turning on a light switch is no longer the great chasm that rural peoples must span to consider themselves modern. In six villages in Haiti that is.

The base stations are underutilized in a major way. This is a wonderful problem that can be solved in numerous ways. The excellent design and engineering of the base charging station permits one to imagine all sorts of additional utilizations, and revenue sources to the entrepreneur, that spring from the fact the four or five battery units are charged each day. It is my belief that the additional uses of the energy being produced will be provided by the people of each village. Do they need power for a tele-learning center? Electricity for a medical clinic to serve ten or twenty villages in the vicinity? An ice machine to keep water cold for those long humid days? Human ingenuity being what it is I cannot begin to think of all of the ways this gift of affordable, renewable, non-polluting energy will prove to be for the rural population of Haiti.

I have been privileged to view the IEEE/Sirona rural electrification project from inception through to successful pilot.  Indeed it is a privilege to see this project so well designed, built, implemented and managed. So much of what I do in Haiti every day encompasses wonderful ideas that remain, forever, ideas. Kudos to all for a job well done.

Rick Davis

Tech Assist for Haiti