Climate Change
The concern about climate change and the search for new and clean energy has motivated us in San José (El Cruce) to implement alternative energy in our school community. The Dominican Republic has not been able to provide sufficient electricity to meet every day needs for more than four decades. Because of frequent blackouts, we were unable to use the 22 recycled computers we had received as a donation from a Spanish foundation. We started to look for alternatives in order to facilitate our students’ learning process as well as the work of the school staff.
With the help of Renee Richie, OP, in our search, we were put in contact with SOLUZ, a company from Boston, with much experience in the Dominican Republic. This company, which promotes alternative energy among populations with few resources, responded to our need. In the beginning of 2009, SOLUZ added 16 full-size panels with eight industrial batteries to the already existing bank of 16 half-panels. This system covers the power needs of 32 computers, which now operate six hours a day. Half of the energy comes from the battery bank and half is produced during the day. The battery bank is charged by electricity from the grid, as well as by solar energy from the panels. The panels power the battery for three hours without drawing on the battery storage, and the batteries give us the rest of what we need.
Today we are very happy that we are promoting the use of alternative energy. This project has a written- in clause to promote education in alternative energy and to use local businesses as sources of supplies, such as batteries and invertors. Because the electricity generated in the Dominican Republic is largely from fossil fuels, there is a great need to use alternative sources to protect our island environment as well as our world climate.
One of our hopes is that solar systems will be used more widely as an alternative source for electricity. Our experience can provide a model for others who can take advantage of energy from the sun that is ours to enjoy and to use the whole year round.