Solar Project Saves Lives

Our Phase 2 solar system upgrade continues to be delayed due to pandemic supply issues. There is a global shortage of Polysilicon, a key component required for the manufacture of solar panels. Further, the batteries for our system are being made by a company in the Netherlands and this company is experiencing supply backlogs in their orders for battery components. Our solar contractor has communicated with the manufacturer and has been promised that our order will be ready by December 2021.

We appreciate our donors’ patience as we deal with supply issues that are out of our control. Thanks to all of you for providing the funding for this critical project at the Mwandi hospital. We hope that our next report will contain the good news that all equipment has been delivered to Mwandi and that it has been installed or is in the process of being installed.

Previous Solar Project Saves Lives reports detailed the successes of the project’s first phase and the plans to embark on Phase 2. In this report, the American Partners are very pleased to report that Corteva Agriscience, a GlobalGiving Corporate Partner, has generously donated $30,000 to support the second phase of the solar project at Mwandi hospital. This amazing gift will allow us to improve and expand our plans for Phase 2. As a reminder, the hospital serves the people in the Mwandi district of Western Province Zambia. The district’s economy is primarily based on agriculture and fishing. The expansion of solar power at the hospital will enable the delivery of safer and more reliable healthcare to this community now and in the future.

Our solar project technical team includes representatives from Zambia and the United States, as well as the solar contractor. Members of the team met twice via Zoom since January 2021 and have had contact by email at other times. The team is coordinating the Phase 2 system upgrades and will be planning future upgrades as the hospital's master plan is developed. At the beginning of the year, the team re-examined the equipment planned for Phase 2 of the project. These discussions led the team to recommend a containerized system with more efficient and longer-lasting Lithium-ion batteries instead of lead acid batteries. Further, the containerized system will be centrally located making management easier and providing controlled temperatures that will optimize battery efficiency. The original plan would have added separate installations scattered around the institution. Fortunately, Corteva’s $30,000 gift will allow us to make these changes and to expand the original equipment proposed for Phase 2. The net effect of these modifications will be to increase the use of solar power in the hospital during the day and at night. We anticipate:

• that an increase in battery storage by 30kWH will allow usage of solar power by parts of the hospital at night.
• that an increase of 75 more solar panels with additional charge controllers will add 24kW to the existing system and will allow more areas of the current hospital, including the maternity ward, to be added to the system. Some of the departments will be supplied entirely by solar power during the day.
• that these new modifications to Phase 2 of the solar project will help prepare the baseline for a conversion to the 3Phase electrical system envisioned by the master plan. 

The new equipment is currently on order from suppliers. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting both the production of the equipment and its delivery to Zambia. Some components of the system must be custom ordered to meet the special requirements of the Mwandi hospital’s facilities, increasing production time. After the equipment has been produced, we anticipate a timeline of 4-to-6 months for delivery and installation. Delivery logistics will depend on differing degrees of lockdown or regulations required for the shipment as it makes its way from the Netherlands to Zambia.

Once again, we thank all contributors for their continued support of “Solar Project Saves Lives.”