Solar Industry Helping Save Lives in Haiti
August 12, 2010 Kyriaki (Sandy) Venetis 
Solar panels being installed on a medical center in Il de la Tortue, Haiti. Photo courtesy of oaklandnorth.net.
Today marks eight months to the day that the earthquake hit in Haiti. While millions of dollars have been donated for relief efforts, the government has been slow to distribute needed help.
Partners in Health (PIH), a nonprofit medical and social services organization, says that in Haiti today, “More than a million people are still living under tents, tarps, and makeshift shelters in crowded encampments, with limited access to food, water, sanitation, schools, jobs, and social services. Many people are still in pain, hungry, and desperate.”
To help the relief efforts - at least from a medical perspective - Solar World has awarded The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) an in-kind grant of solar panels totaling 100 kilowatts to support the solar electrification of five health clinics for PIH in Haiti.
An in-kind grant is when a company or foundation donates goods or services, rather than giving money. The donated solar panels will be installed in the clinics located in the remote mountain highlands of Haiti that don’t have access to the electric grid.