Solar Project Saves Lives

After a full year of delays in the shipping the components necessary to complete Solar Project Phase II, our contractor is pursuing alternative solutions to obtain this equipment. Rather than waiting indefinitely for the shipment from Europe, he is arranging to fly inverters from Europe to Zambia and to purchase a refurbished container and lithium batteries that are now available in Africa without decreasing system quality or increasing the costs to the American Partners. 

With the good news that Phase II completion is in sight, the contractor recently installed 75 new panels on the roof of the hospital, bringing the total number of panels on the hospital roof to 105. Pictures of the installed panels are attached to this report. Delivery of the remaining components is expected soon, and the targeted completion date is one to three months from today. 

When completed, Phase II will have added the new solar panels mentioned above, as well as new inverters that will increase the production of electricity, and lithium batteries within a containerized system that will increase the storage capacity and delivery capability of the system. Overall, Phase II will increase Phase I’s electrical production by a factor of 4. After the final installation of Phase II, up to 30% of the daily electrical power required by the existing hospital and campus could be produced by Phase I and II of the solar project. 

Many, many thanks to all our donors for your contributions and your patience through the ups and downs of this project. We hope that by the end of 2022, Phase II will be fully functional and reducing the costs of the hospital’s ZESCO bills, freeing these savings to be used directly for patient care.