Eradicating Energy Poverty in Haiti

When we think about electricity we don’t often think about how culture impacts the way we use electricity. In the United Kingdom, when a popular TV show switches to commercials or a soccer match breaks at half time, millions of kettles are switched on at once, causing widespread blackouts over the years. When viewed this way, British tea culture is a quaint threat to stable electricity in the UK.

Although Tiburon is an electricity grid of much smaller reach, the need to understand and account for a culture’s use of electricity is paramount. That’s why our team conducts detailed surveys in each community where we plan a grid to know how to design the system, to their needs. Recently our tireless EarthSpark and Enèji Pwòp teams finished surveying the Tiburon community only to discover people prioritised buying and using an iron higher on their list than many other essentials we came to expect in Les Anglais. When we dug a little deeper people replied incredulously, “We have church on Sundays!”

This is where our deeply knowledgeable field team steps in to design a grid that makes sure our customers look their Sunday best, and even provides entrepreneurial opportunity for locals to start their own ironing service.

Following in Les Anglais’ footsteps, we have established the Tiburon Energy Committee. Comprised of  10 members, each representing demographics across age, gender, industry, religion, and socio-economic status, our new committee is poised to uphold an ongoing representation of the community’s electrification needs.

Electrification in underserved communities is culturally significant, impacting every corner of people’s lives. That’s why EarthSpark is committed to working with communities to define and provide respectful, thoughtful, high-quality access to a life changing technology. And it is with thanks to supporters like you that we’ve been able to do exactly that for the people of Les Anglais and - very soon - Tiburon.

Warmly,

Madie and the EarthSpark team.

As the days continue to get longer, we’re happy to report that we’ve been making great progress on repairs and expansion of our clean energy community grids in Haiti. As we share our headline stories below, we would also love to hear from you if you have any questions or input.

Long-awaited Re-launch in Les Anglais

As you may recall, our inaugural grid was hit hard by Hurricane Matthew back in 2016, and we have been working hard to recover. We’re happy to report that our customer reconnections to the repaired grid are now almost complete, and the town is blanketed with a gradually growing patchwork of glowing lights. That’s right, we’re lights on in Les Anglais! Our vendors are back to selling plop plop (energy credits) and, may we say it, we can feel renewed energy in the town. As we improve our system to build back stronger we’re also partnering with the Mayor’s office to deliver streetlighting which will be an exciting addition to life in Les Anglais. But most important is the feverish race to make sure our customers are connected and live in time for the World Cup. We’re ready for homes to over flow with devoted fans in front of screens and radios, hanging on every goal.

Charging Forward in Tiburon

In Tiburon we continue to work with Haitian firm DigitalKap towards the completion of our second grid’s energy generation site. Racking and solar panels are installed, and the battery inverter storage system is expected to arrive in a matter of days. This is considerable progress since breaking ground in January. A damaged bridge is impeding the transportation of the system’s heavy batteries, but we’re expecting bridge repairs to be complete any day now.

Getting Started on “Starter Grids”

Haiti’s rural south is scattered with municipalities, towns and villages of all sizes. We look forward to a future where reliable electricity is a reality in each community. To start serving some of these smaller communities we have begun fundraising for 2 “starter grids”. Towns have been selected for smaller, modular grids that can power approximately 50 connections each and can be easily expanded at a later date. We’re also preparing to relaunch Enèji Pwòp’s off-grid retail work to pilot stand-alone solar home systems for homes and businesses beyond the reach of our grids. Energy access needs come in all shapes and sizes, and we’re proud to be offering a portfolio of solutions. At times, finding the stepping stones to tackle energy poverty in Haiti feels like a leap into the dark, but as the light returns to homes in Les Anglais we're reminded that progress is possible. Thank you, from all of us, for making our work possible with your generous support.

Warmly,

Madie and the rest of the EarthSpark team.