Solar power and battery storage for Haiti hospital

A battery system installed in a hospital in Haiti has been helping the building run completely on solar power during the daytime.

The lithium ion battery system was installed at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Haiti by Berlin-based Qinous late last year. It provides energy for daytime grid stabilisation – allowing for 100% penetration of solar power from a 230 kW roof-mounted PV system and complete shutdown of the site’s diesel generators during the day.

‘Haiti is very sunny, but the power supply in many places is still largely provided by expensive and environmentally harmful diesel generators simply because the grid infrastructure is lacking,’ said Steffen Heinrich, Chief Technical Officer at Qinous.

Qinous’ battery system takes over the grid-forming function of the diesel generator, enabling the grid to be switched off entirely and for surplus electricity to be stored. ‘The diesel generators come online only when the sun stops shining and the batteries have discharged,’ said Heinrich.

In case of power failure, the battery automatically ensures power supply.

Qinous says its PV battery project significantly reduces the annual costs for fossil fuels and the diesel generators at the hospital, as well as reducing carbon dioxide emissions by around 200 tonnes per year.

Energy storage initiatives worldwide continue to help integrate renewable energy technologies into electricity grids. But the real value of energy storage may be underestimated, according to a report from the World Energy Council: E-storage – shifting from cost to value.

The report says that a narrow focus on cost alone may be leading to misconceptions about the value of storage technologies – because looking only at investment costs ignores the system value of stored energy. The report says that storage needs to be thought of in terms of both its cost and revenue benefits. It also estimates that new technologies mean that storage costs could fall by 70% over the next 15 years.