SolarWorld solar power modules are again on their way to Haiti by shipping container to reliably supply electricity to five hospitals there.
The company donated the modules to the non-profit Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF). The total of 440 solar power modules with a peak output of 230 watts each are the third SolarWorld aid delivery to the island state shaken by the disastrous earthquake one year ago. Clean solar power is the most cost-effective form of energy to supply to the health centers and maintain their medical infrastructure far from the national utility grid.
“With its solar power modules, SolarWorld is contributing to a better and more reliable basic health-care system in the disaster area. Thanks to our local partners, the power systems can be installed without any undue delay,” says Dr.-Ing. E. h. Frank Asbeck, Chairman and CEO of SolarWorld AG.
The impulse for this aid came from Larry Hagman, known from the television series “Dallas,” who has provided SolarWorld testimonials calling for the clean and risk-free energy supply of solar power. For more than 10 years, Hagman has been actively involved in SELF. “The people in Haiti urgently need help. A power grid does not exist there anymore. Diesel supplies are expensive and unsafe. Solar energy is the most suitable source of energy to supply hospitals with electricity,” Larry Hagman says.
SELF coordinates the project and, step by step, replaces expensive diesel generators in the hospitals in cooperation with the international health and aid organization Partners In Health (PIH). “As important medical facilities in Port-au-Prince were destroyed the importance of the health centers in the rural regions increased. The situation is exacerbated by many people fleeing the city after the earthquake,” adds Robert Freling, Executive Director of SELF. “The hospitals are now reaching their limits.”
Within the framework of the program Solar2World, the German company supports development organizations with off-grid solar power solutions. Owing to its production and sales sites in the USA, SolarWorld AG can now make its products available more quickly. The solar power modules are expected to arrive in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince in mid-December. The systems will be installed in La Colline, Arrondissement de Lascahobas, Thomonde, Petite Riviere and Verrettes. With SELF and PIH, SolarWorld implemented a project in the hospital of Boucain-Carré, Haiti, in 2009. Immediately after the earthquake in January 2010, the solar technology group rendered instant aid by supplying the aid organization Water Missions International with solar modules that provide power to operate water pumping stations.
About SolarWorld AG: The SolarWorld AG Group (ISIN: DE0005108401) is a worldwide leader in offering brand-name, high quality, crystalline solar-power technology. Its strength is its fully integrated solar production. From silicon as the raw material through wafers, cells and modules all the way to turn-key solar systems of all sizes, the group combines all stages of the solar value chain. The central business activity is selling quality modules into the installation and distribution trades and crystalline wafers to the international solar cell industry. Group headquarters are located in Bonn, Germany. The group´s largest production facilities operate in Freiberg, Germany and Hillsboro in the U.S. State of Oregon. Sustainability is the basis of the group strategy. Under the name Solar2World, the group supports care projects using off-grid solar-power solutions in developing countries, exemplifying sustainable economic development. Worldwide, SolarWorld employs about 3,300 people. SolarWorld AG has been quoted on the stock exchange since 1999 and today is listed on, among others, the TecDAX, ÖkoDAX, Dow Jones STOXX 600 as well as in the sustainability index NAI.
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Press: Tel.-No.: 0228/55920-400, E-Mail: press@solarworld.de
Investor Relations: Tel.-No.: 0228/55920-470; Fax-No.: 0228/55920-9470,
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Internet: www.solarworld.de
