HomeNews Tech students design solar energy system for Kenyan clinic but need funds
Tech students design solar energy system for Kenyan clinic but need funds
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Dave Raines walks with children during a visit to
Getongoroma, a village in southwestern Kenya, in January. He is one of a
group of students designing a solar energy system for a medical clinic in the
village.
BLACKSBURG -- A group of Virginia Tech engineering students -- used to
finding solutions that don't go beyond a piece of paper or a lab -- are excited
about the chance to bring real-world change to a remote Kenyan village.
But the real-life project comes with some real-life funding problems.
The clinic is in Getongoroma, a village in southwestern Kenya. It is
about an hour from the nearest town with a power grid. Its needs include potable
water and treatments for malaria, AIDS, parasitic infections and dengue fever.
It serves a regional population of about 170,000.
At the moment, its only electricity comes from small solar panels that power
a few light bulbs so patients can be treated at night.
Lack of power limits what the clinic, started by Foundation Ministries, can
do. The Rev. Thorney Kirk, an independent minister, has been coordinating
efforts between Tech and the clinic.
"Without the power, we can only treat them with a first aid-type setup
and try to get them transported," Kirk said. "In some cases people
end up walking 30 to 40 kilometers" to receive additional medical
attention.
Things as seemingly simple as taking X-rays or refrigerating vaccines are
impossible at the clinic. But the area gets plenty of sun, making it an ideal
subject for what Virginia Tech academic adviser Uri Vandsburger hopes this
solar project will be -- a prototype for other projects around the world.
Mark Showalter, the graduate student adviser for the project, was working on
something similar with a nonprofit organization in Indonesia in 2004 until the tsunami
hit the region, nixing those plans.
Showalter was then approached by Dr. Joe Cacioppo, the director of medical
missions at the Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine. He was
working with Kirk on plans for medical students to practice at the Kenyan
clinic. He thought Showalter could help design a way to provide the clinic with
power.
In the fall, Showalter began working with nine Tech seniors on a project to
do just that. The students have designed a system to provide about 24 kilowatt
hours of solar energy to the clinic each day. It needs about 18 kilowatt hours
daily to function. The average U.S.
household uses about 30 kilowatt hours a day.
Solar panels would absorb sunlight during the day and convert it into
electricity. That power is stored in batteries. When the electricity leaves the
batteries, it's distributed through a breaker box and outlets in the clinic
walls.
To make the designs a reality, the students need about $120,000 to build and
ship the equipment to Kenya.
So far their funding requests have been turned down by several
organizations, including the Gates Foundation. The Virginia Tech Foundation is
working with them to help find funds.
Three of the students traveled to Kenya in January. They said the
trip drove home the importance of what they were doing.
"You can look at the numbers and get an idea of what kind of an impact
you're going to have," said Garrett Bradley, one of the students who made
the trip. "But when you actually see people's faces and talk to people and
see the smiles on people's faces, you realize it's real life."
