may. 16, 2013
Por Ryan Tang

Haiti faces a widespread lack of access to the electricity grid. Fewer than 1 in 6 Haitians have electricity, and those that are connected to the grid must deal with power outages that often occur several times a day. Outside of the cities, the situation is even worse and rural homes, schools, farms and businesses, which are already poorer than their urban counterparts, must either get by without electricity or pay prohibitively high energy costs.
Supported by donor funding, the Solar Electric Light Fund, has installed solar energy systems in 20 schools, a fish farm and 2 agricultural farms in rural Haiti over the last two years in an effort to help address the rural energy problem. In April the MIF team met with SELF’s Haiti Project Manager Jean-Baptiste Certain, to see SELF’s systems in action in Haiti’s Central Plateau.