One of the Fred Hollows clinics in Fiji Photo: Fred Hollows Foundation
A critical eye clinic in Papua New Guinea can now undertake operations without the worry of power cuts after assistance from the Fred Hollows Foundation in New Zealand.
Fred Hollows has set up a solar energy system at the Madang Eye Clinic involving 160 photovoltaic panels and six batteries all running from a 20-foot shipping container.
The panels have been placed on the clinic's roof and the PNG country manager for Fred Hollows Lucinda Gulluman-Kisip said they have now been able to replace the service provided by PNG's national power grid.
She said power outages are a common feature of the service from the national grid.
"We would be getting about two hours of power supply and we would have blackouts for maybe the next two or three hours, which was really inconsistent, really impact on how we ran the clinic, particularly with surgeries and ensuring that our equipment was up and running. So it is very important to have this solar-powered system installed in the clinic," she said.
Gulluman-Kisip said they do have a back up generator to charge the batteries when the weather is dull.
The Fred Hollows Foundation has thanked the Australian NGO Cooperation Program, the Pacific Development and Conservation Trust, and the many New Zealanders who donate to it for providing the support to get the solar power system up and running.
