Electricity in Haiti
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonob...-talks-about-his-ambitious-energy-agenda/amp/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonob...-talks-about-his-ambitious-energy-agenda/amp/
- Thread starter AlterEgo
- Start date
Haiti tackles electricity
the article is very well written and really interesting. decentralization of the power grid? sounds like it may work. i agree that for a small country like haiti an investment in renewable energy will reduce future government spending that is now dedicated to fuel purchases. whether it will help to raise haiti from the ashes? that will probably take generations of educating the people. but it's a step forward, good luck.
I had a Haitian friend who went into the solar power business shortly after the earthquake.
He started manufacturing a simple system of a solar panel on top of a post, with an enclosed inverter with batteries below. The enclosure was filled with outlets for cel phone chargers. (110v outlets)
The idea was to give Haitians the ability to charge their phones for free, which would be an enormous benefit for them to be able to communicate.
The posts worked flawlessly - exactly as they expected. He started installing them at strategic points all over the country.
As they were progressing, they went back to check the original installations, and found every one of them with an enterprising citizen who was selling the electricity to others.
When the govt. saw that, they pulled the plug on the project, and my friend went bankrupt.
Sounds like he had a good idea, but too soon.
He started manufacturing a simple system of a solar panel on top of a post, with an enclosed inverter with batteries below. The enclosure was filled with outlets for cel phone chargers. (110v outlets)
The idea was to give Haitians the ability to charge their phones for free, which would be an enormous benefit for them to be able to communicate.
The posts worked flawlessly - exactly as they expected. He started installing them at strategic points all over the country.
As they were progressing, they went back to check the original installations, and found every one of them with an enterprising citizen who was selling the electricity to others.
When the govt. saw that, they pulled the plug on the project, and my friend went bankrupt.
Sounds like he had a good idea, but too soon.
The idea was to provide the electricity for free but then he went bankrupt?
BTW, the DR goverment should emulate this motion of Haiti to move towards 24/7 electricity. This truly mean developing, change and hope.
I'm going to assume that by, "the government pulled the plug," he meant it was the government that was behind the project monetary speaking that is. So, in essence, his friend went broke.
Thanks for clarifying, though, if the Haitian government was behind it monetarily, why would he be the one gone bankrupt?
It's likely that the system in question was Solar PV?
Correct. As a Haitian businessman he was well aware of the risks going in, but he was convinced he had a good project.
But for us mortals, understanding how things work in Haiti is incomprehensible. He used to use the saying "Still waters run deep" to describe the workings of the Haitian govt.
That's why he set up shop in a Dominican Free Zone close to the port. He said there was no way he could set up shop successfully in Haiti.
Because if the government pulled the plug then it means they were no longer going to support him and his project. I take this as they were the ones paying the man.
Correct. They stopped paying him.
There's more than meets the eye as usual in Haiti.
With everything going on in the country, why worry about somebody charging for electricity for a Govt supplied electric source? How much could that possibly generate?
My friend lost a bunch on the deal, I can tell you that.