


Terry Cullen
Dec 20, 2023
Haiti
Categories:
Energy, Rural, Natural Disaster
Could the example of solar powered electricity producing micro grids be a clean, sustainable and affordable energy solution for local communities? Perhaps. The inspiration from this article came from a brief article dated April 29, 2021 in Haiti Libre, an on-line newspaper from the country of Haiti.
The article reports that 75% of Haitian citizens do not have access to electricity and that clean microgrid solutions may be the answer. Clean refers to green, renewable energy sources, in this case, solar power, a readily available source of energy in this tropical country. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a microgrid is “a local energy grid with control capability, which means it can disconnect from the traditional grid and operate autonomously”.
EarthSpark, an organization that builds energy-related business models that expand opportunities for people living in hard-to-reach places, developed a study in conjunction with Haitian universities that led to the building of a solar-powered microgrid in Tiburon, a small community in the southwest part of the country. The microgrid supplies clean and reliable electricity to 500 homes and it has built in resilience to weather hurricane conditions. This is an interesting and affordable solution to providing electricity in areas where the private sector will not invest in it, such as rural areas, impoverished one and areas subject to many natural disasters.
Many of us take for granted that we will always have a consistent and reliable electricity supply. Approximately 840 million people in the world lack access to electricity in 2019 versus 1.2 billion in 2010. That is substantial progress but the remaining progress will be challenging.
The cost of electricity for those who have access to it can be expensive. National Public Radio reports that 31% of U.S. households have trouble paying energy bills. Left Foot Forward reports that 4.7 million people are regularly cut off from electricity because they can’t afford it. It is an issue that isn’t often discussed. Some electric companies offer cost averaging, ability to pay back bills in installments and/or offer financial relief based on other consumers contributing to a fund set up for it. Still most electric companies require substantial security payments to set up service and deny service to those who have a history of not paying their bills. It surprises many to discover that even affluent communities have problems with people unable to afford electricity. People in rural areas may have to pay surcharges to have their local companies get their power from regional electricity suppliers.
Microgrids could be an affordable alternative to set up for geographically contained communities, such as impoverished neighborhoods within larger cities, or housing projects. It could be used to jump start economic development in underdeveloped areas by providing lower energy costs. And it could jumpstart green solutions for electrical generation especially if it is paired with high energy efficient building construction. This could be a triple bottom line win (environmental-economy-social). It’s an intriguing idea and it would require the collaboration and cooperation of many groups to work through the business case to determine feasibility and to find capital to build the infrastructure. The discovery process could be used to motivate younger people locally to pursue education and career opportunities in clean energy technologies. Does this spark your imagination?
Sources:
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33600-haiti-technology-solar-micro-grids-huge-potential-for-rural-areas.html
http://www.earthsparkinternational.org/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesellsmoor/2019/05/23/sdg-7-at-current-rate-2030-renewable-energy-goals-will-be-missed/?sh=6d7c44073f0b
https://www.npr.org/2018/09/19/649633468/31-percent-of-u-s-households-have-trouble-paying-energy-bills
https://leftfootforward.org/2015/05/4-7-million-people-are-regularly-cut-off-from-electricity-because-they-cant-afford-it/
Originally published November 27, 2021.
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