SCHOTT Solar and Energiebau Donate Solar Power Systems for Six Rural Clinics in Ghana

·        Solar Light Box delivers off-grid electricity for medical wards

·        SCHOTT Solar thin-film ASI modules deliver power for light and cooling

Mainz/Cologne/Ghana, November 3, 2009 – Six rural clinics in Ghana have been presented with solar power systems from SCHOTT Solar AG and its partners, Energiebau Solarstromsysteme GmbH and Energiebau Sunergy Ghana Ltd. The health facilities can now obtain off-grid electricity for lighting, cooling and computer systems, to name but a few examples. These systems and their installation are a donation from the German companies. They were officially inaugurated during a celebration held at the site of the rural clinic in Wapuli Village, Yendi District, in the North of Ghana on October 14, 2009. All parties involved view this to be the first step towards equipping a major share of the roughly 800 remotely situated rural clinics in Ghana. The respective projects are already in planning.

The “Solar Light Box” PV system developed by Energiebau Solarstromsysteme in Cologne, Germany, features thin-film solar modules from SCHOTT Solar and provides off-grid electricity for the rural clinic in Wapuli Village, Yendi District. Additional systems were installed in the clinics in Sambuli, Tatale, Chamba, Wenkyiki, and Kuni. Roughly 300,000 people in total live in the areas near the six clinics. (Some of the clinics attend to between 50 and 200 patients each day on an outpatient basis, depending on the season.) The system supplies off-grid electricity for cooling medications, emergency lighting in the delivery rooms, as well as for the clinic’s office computer. The patients who are admitted will benefit from this, but also the up to 200 external patients from the surrounding villages who frequent the dispensary each day.

In the speech he held during the inaugurational ceremony, the Deputy Northern Regional Minister, B. Moses Mabengba, thanked the sponsors for their support. The two local churches, the Evangelican Presbyterian and the Catholic Diocese of Yendi, are also both participating in this project. The churches run the clinics and provided valuable logistics support during the installation of these systems. Plans call for the clinics to contribute financially by paying small monthly fees for using the system that cover the costs of maintenance. Yet another option on expansion is to train their personnel on installing the solar Licht Boxes for use in extremely remote regions.