SolarWorld and Other Donors, Volunteers Install 100-kW System in S.C.
SolarWorld, the largest U.S. solar manufacturer for more than 35 years, today joined Water Missions International (WMI), a host of supply and service donors and dozens of volunteers in celebrating the commissioning of a 100-kW system at the international water-engineering nonprofit’s new headquarters location in North Charleston, S.C. The system is expected to produce $1,000 a month in savings on electrical costs, expanding the organization’s capacity to provide an additional 100 people a month access to safe drinking water for life, often using solar power to pump water through the organization’s patented filtration systems.
SolarWorld donated 450 solar panels, the system’s design and real-time Suntrol monitoring and engaged trusted business partners as donors, including SolarWorld authorized installer Mountain View Solar, based in Berkeley Springs, W. Va., and world-leading inverter manufacturer SMA America. SMA donated the system’s complete inverter technology. Mountain View donated on-site installation, procurement and electrical oversight. In part, the installer managed dozens of WMI volunteers in a quick-time installation that was concentrated in just four days. The system is among the biggest not only in South Carolina but also among nonprofit international aid organizations.
A self-described Christian engineer ministry, WMI has led the way in leveraging solar power to aid people in developing economies, according to SolarWorld. Last fall, the company honored the nonprofit’s humanitarian use of solar by bestowing its annual Einstein Award to founders Molly and George Greene III and announcing the donation.
For many water systems, WMI combines as few as four to six SolarWorld solar panels with a solar-powered water pump from Grundfos, the world’s largest pump-maker, to supply clean, safe drinking water for as many as 5,000 people. Without such systems, these communities would continue to suffer high rates of water-borne disease and childhood mortality. As strategic partners of WMI, both SolarWorld and Grundfos have for years discounted and donated technology for deployment through the nonprofit’s community programs in the developing world, where the nonprofit has approximately 175 employees in 10 countries.
“We are grateful for WMI’s ingenuity in using solar, and particularly our high-performance products, to relieve suffering and save lives among the world’s sickest communities,” said Kevin Kilkelly, president of SolarWorld Americas, the company’s commercial operation. “With this system donation, we now want to leverage WMI itself, freeing up more of its resources to provide more people with the basic necessity of clean drinking water.”
Aside from SolarWorld, Mountain View and SMA, project donors included Alder Energy Systems, Charleston Water System, Engineered Power Solutions, GEL, Maner Builders Supply Co., Osborne Electric Co., SCE&G, The Sharon Co., Southwire Co. and Terracon.
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