The solar project I have been working on is officially finished as of this week! Originally, I had planned to wrap things up in November- but due to the size of a solar system I installed in a village called Umej, I ran out of wiring.
There are five community buildings that have solar lighting now. A very large Catholic church, a house for the Presbyterian Woman's and Youth group, the timber office, a nakamal / dining hall and a small SDA church. I just completed the lighting system at the small SDA church because a cargo ship finally delivered some wire which I ordered months ago.
Thank you to all of the donors out there! I will post some pictures / videos of the completed solar kits when I have a decent internet connection and you all should receive some thank you letters sometime soon.
Most of us in the Western World do not realize the importance of lighting until the power goes out and yet we still instinctively flip the light switch repeatedly like hamsters with learning disabilities. Cutting the island's reliance of kerosine and generators is important- and these community buildings are inspiring a lot of local families to save up for solar systems of their own.
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3 comments:
When you get back you can install some on my house too! Nice job.
Hello Dear Matthew Hardwick ,I can see that you made very great job there.More then one year I am planning to move some pacific ocean countries, especially to Vanuatu.I am electrical engineer about elevator control systems and street light ( with and without solar system).You may give some more advice about Vanuatu ,How can I live there and what can I do for the Vanuatu people?
waiting your replay,thanks and best regards
ati .
(atimayo@hotmail.com)
i have just been reading some of your posts Matthew. I was a New Zealand volunteer on Tanna for a couple of years. Some of your comments earlier on about the nature of expats etc rang a bell with me. Well done for getting this far with the solar project. I know in detail what a mission these tasks can be. Solar is the way to go along with copra based fuel but the "getting started" costs are hard for most. All power to your elbow Matthew. I wonder which hihg school principal is down at Aneityum now.
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