The people of Haiti are facing a long and difficult road to recovery. Their power infrastructure has been demolished and fuel for generators and cooking is scarce, but they do have one thing on their side: abundant sunshine. Many solar power companies and non-profits are focusing on that resource and bringing solar-powered equipment capable of providing essential needs like drinkable water, cooking surfaces and mobile phones to the Haitian people.
Some of the organizations providing solar-powered relief include:
- Sun Ovens International — Delivering hundreds of solar-powered ovens capable of making 1,200 meals in eight hours to homeless camps.
- Worldwater & Solar Technologies — Donated a 22 kW array that is running a boarding school for 350 kids and a solar-powered mobile water purification system that is pumping out 30,000 gallons of clean water daily at a Red Cross aid station.
- Digicel — Donating 1,000 solar mobile phones to keep lines of communication open during the crisis.
- Sol Inc. — Contributing 100 solar-powered streetlights that can be installed in less than an hour, stay lit all night and stand up to hurricane-force winds.
We often think about renewable energy as the thing that will save us in the long term, but it’s important to see how powerful of a savior it can be in the short term as well.
via MSNBC