Radio Havana Cuba's Science, Technology and Environment Program:
BREAKTHROUGHFor broadcast Sunday, January 21, 2001
Written and narrated by Arnaldo "Arnie" Coro, RHC's Science Editor
Hello and welcome to Breakthrough, our Science, Technology and the Environment update, I am Arnaldo,Arnie, Coro, RHC's science editor, and as always it is my pleasure to share with you the next 5 minutes of airtime. Here at today's Breakthrough you will learn about the way that Cuba's healthcare system is providing electricity to family doctors' offices located at remote places, where there is no connection to the national electrical system.
Although Cuba is the Caribbean nation with the highest number of households connected to the a national electricity system -- actually 95 out of every 100 homes receive electricity from the grid. There are many others which receive electrical service from small hydroelectric plants, of which there are more than 400 now in service. But there are still many remote locations where electricity is not available, making the delivery of medical services to the population much more difficult. That's why a national program to provide SOLAR-POWERED ELECTRICITY to remotely located family doctors' offices was established some time ago.
The solar-powered system uses photovoltaic panels rated at 80 watts each, and capable of charging 12 volts accumulators. The typical system uses five PV panels that are capable of generating up to 400 watts, which are connected to a power regulator, which in turn feeds a 440 ampere hours battery bank. The batteries are connected to a six hundred watt inverter that turns the 12 volts DC voltage into 115 volts AC, so that standard appliances can be used, while the lights are connected directly to the accumulators. The system for the typical family doctor's office uses fifteen watt fluorescent lamps to illuminate the whole building. Power is provided to a TV set, a radio receiver and tape recorder, and a two-way VHF transceiver that keeps the resident doctor in touch with the nearest hospital, from which he can request advice and emergency vehicles to transport the patients when needed.
The capacity of the battery bank, 440 ampere hours, is more than enough to assure 24-hour-a-day service for several days of zero sunshine, something that here in Cuba is almost impossible. Nevertheless, the engineers who designed this solar powered photovoltaic system used a very wide margin safety factor, something that has so far proven to be a wise decision, as there is not a single case on record of the solar power systems running out of charge. According to those who provide maintenance, the family doctor's office system has a 99.99 percent reliability when properly taken care for -- which means running preventive maintenance checks on all high current connections and keeping the big lead acid deep cycle accumulators topped with de-ionized water.
Although the solar powered system is a high-cost investment due to the need to import many of the components -- including the fully assembled photovoltaic panels -- it has proven to be a much better option than installing diesel generators that need constant refueling, pollute the atmosphere and which cannot provide 24-hour-a-day service by a single unit. Cuba is now in the process of assembling amorphous silicon solar cells, as sunshine is really plentiful here, just waiting for more solar panels to turn it into useful electricity!!!
And this was Breakthrough for today amigos... How Cuba is using photoelectricity to provide 24-hour-a-day service to remote family doctor's offices. From Havana, I am Arnaldo, Arnie, Coro, RHC's science editor, inviting you to join me next week at the same time and short wave frequency for another edition of Breakthrough.
For more information, via Air Mail:
"Breakthrough"
Radio Havana Cuba
Havana, CUBA 10600
Via e-mail: arnie@radiohc.org
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