How We Do It: Powering the Base

How Does LiveBeyond Use Solar Energy to Power the Entire Base?

Powering all of LiveBeyond’s programs could be a very expensive task. But thanks to the efficient work of solar energy and battery banks, powering the base is much simpler and more cost-effective. Not only that, but our reduced reliance on power generators makes LiveBeyond less vulnerable to fuel shortages and reduces our strain on the environment. In this video, Dr. Vanderpool walks you through exactly how LiveBeyond powers the base.

Transcript:

Hi, LiveBeyond family. Many of you have asked how we keep the lights on around LiveBeyond. As you know, many people in Haiti don’t have adequate electricity. In fact, much of Haiti has a very intermittent power supply. So how do we do it here at LiveBeyond? Well, it all starts here. You can see that we have solar panels. We have about 40 kilowatts of these solar panels, and they work hard every day to provide us with enough electricity to supply our hospital, our school, Johnny’s Kids, our guesthouse, and our cottages. But there’s more to it than just the solar panels. Come with me and I will show you more.

Welcome to the inverter room here at LiveBeyond. You saw the solar panels up on the roof, and that power comes into this room. And that DC electricity is transformed into AC electricity in these four machines. We have 32 kilowatts of inverting power, and that is how we convert the DC electricity into usable AC. But what about at night when the sun is not shining and the solar panels don’t work? Well, these are our batteries. And this battery bank supplies enough electricity for us to get through the night. It stores the electricity inside these batteries and then releases it slowly as we need it.

So that’s how we do it here at LiveBeyond. We supply electricity sufficient for our needs. Thank you for listening, and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. Get out there and LiveBeyond!