InterIntel Releases First Quarterly Update

By Bryan Schaaf on Lundi, juin 1, 2009.
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InterIntel, an organization devoted to the diffusion of alternative energy technology in Haiti, recently released its first quarterly report, copied below. InterIntel has developed a number of interesting, new partnerships with the private sector and other non profit organizations operating in Haiti.  If you would like to learn more after reading the update, take a look at the InterIntel website/blog, which covers a number of issues related to alternative energy in low resource settings.

 

Without public electricity services, the people of Les Anglais, Haiti had no choice but to use kerosene lanterns or candles for lighting.  But that could now change...

 

"Jolie! Tres jolie!” Enthusiastic cries of “very nice!” is how people in the community of Les Anglais responded to using a solar-powered LED table lamp during InterIntel’s December, 2008 visit.  Four months later, InterIntel Co-Director Dan Schnitzer returned with two advisors: Dr. Bob Lange of the International Collaborative on Science, Education and the Environment, and Dr. Robert Van Buskirk of Village Projects International.  Bob, Robert and Dan met with members of partner community group COREA to finalize construction plans for the first Clean Energy Store in rural Haiti and to discuss the potential impact of green technology.

 

The store is owned by a local community group, COREA.  The store will act as a retailer of complete systems only, such as the solar lamp kit (lamp, batteries, panel) and later this year, Solar Home Systems.  The store will also act as a distributor of "clean energy consumables," such as replacement batteries, light switches, sockets, bulbs, and wires for lamp kit and SHS maintenance or expansion.  In this way, local vendors (many of whom currently sell kerosene) can still make a living by retailing these consumables, transitioning to a clean energy model.

 

“We will sell one thousand lamps in less than a month!” one member exclaimed.  “I use mine every day. No more kerosene.” said Jean Noel, administrator of a local primary school, who received one of the seven demonstration lamps InterIntel brought in December.  InterIntel envisions replicating the store in other rural communities, and scaling up the organizational capacity of the store owners to develop community-scale micro-grids.

 

The solar lamps cost twenty dollars retail and come with three rechargeable AA batteries.  The lamp has 12 LEDs and a 1W solar panel with a 10 foot cord which can be used to recharge the lamp or a cellular phone.  Admittedly, twenty dollars is a large expenditure for a Haitian family. That having been said, InterIntel found through its needs assessment survey that 75% of households in Les Anglais spend more than $1.42 per room per month on kerosene and candle lighting.  At that cost, a lamp will have paid for itself in at most 14 months.  Some households will have a payback of as little as 3 months. 

 

Twenty dollars represents a large sum for a rural, Haitian family.  InterIntel is exploring mechanisms, including small microloans for making them more affordable.  One possibility is the formation of Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs) to support those who would like to adopt this technology but cannot afford to spend twenty dollars all at once.

 

InterIntel has also engaged Fonkoze, Haiti's most successful microfinance institution, on the possibility of providing larger “energy loans” to individuals who would be interested in using a home based solar power system, which costs about $150.  Until solar panels significantly decrease in cost, financing assistance will be necessary.  But that having been said, if one household has solar panel, it is a sure bet that other families will also benefit.  As a next step, InterIntel Energy Systems Engineer Peter McPhee will join Bob and Dan in Les Anglais later this year to conduct a 20-person training workshop on the installation, maintenance and expansion of Solar Home Systems. 

 

As of now, the town of Coteaux has no tree nurseries despite being situated in what USAID identified as the 3rd most vulnerable of Haiti’s 54 watersheds.  Through its partnership with a local agroforestry college, InterIntel is helping a community development group in Coteaux establish their community’s first tree nursery.  The goal is to plant 20,000 native trees this Fall, and 40,000 forest and fruit trees next Spring.  Given the expertise and solidarity of local partners, this project should flourish.

 

InterIntel advisor Dr. Bob Lange will also be consulting with the agroforestry college students as they develop an environmental education curriculum for secondary students in Coteaux.  During a recent trip in April, 2009, Bob, Dan and InterIntel advisor Dr. Robert Van Buskirk tested kite aerial photography as a means of evaluating the impact of the reforestation project.

 

This summer, agroforestry college students will use this technique to survey a sample of lands owned by farmers who have signed up to purchase trees for the Fall.  The students will survey these lands at regular intervals after the planting to assess the survival rate of the trees.  InterIntel is providing start-up funds for the community to put in place a formal tree nursery.

 

In February, InterIntel was generously taken on as a pro bono client of the prestigious public relations firm Rasky Baerlein.  Under the guidance of Rasky Baerlein, InterIntel will be making some major changes in the months to come.  While the goals will remain the same, InterIntel will change its name and logo, restructure the website, its staffing model, and formalize a new organizational structure. 

 

The intent is to become a more effective organization in building the capacity of communities to address environmental challenges.  Multiple focus groups will be held in the Boston are over the next few weeks to discuss potential changes, but of course feedback is welcome from everyone.  You can reach Daniel Schnitzer at Daniel.Schnitzer@interintel.org.

 

Finally, Frontier Utilities, an electricity provider based in Houston, Texas, has pledged up to $25,000 to help sponsor InterIntel’s clean energy store.  InterIntel has through July 1st to raise $25,000.  Matching grants provide an opportunity to double the impact of contributions provided to an organization. If you would like to support InterIntel's work, now is a great time to do so.  You can make a donation online by clicking here.

  

Reply to Nick

Soumis par Dan Schnitzer (non vérifié) le lun, 06/08/2009 - 23:51.

Hi Nick,

Thanks for the feedback. Your comment reveals that we could do a better job of communicating our projects, mission and methods.

I’d like to respond to all of your many questions and points.

Firstly, no, the price of LED lamps and solar home systems is not high. On the contrary, it is the price of kerosene and candle based lighting which is high, especially when one factors in externalities like CO2 emissions and health impacts. Haiti does not need “public power;” it needs inexpensive, clean, reliable power. At the moment, EdH provides none of these to the residential or small and micro enterprise sectors in the cities where it operates. There is no reason to believe that pursuing a centralized, top-down approach to increasing power access in either urban or rural areas will succeed. Such a model has actually proven quite dangerous and ineffective in rural areas (see Meier, “Power Sector Innovation in Developing Countries.” 1990).

I can’t stress enough how off base the comparison to a medical mission where doctors hand out medicines with little or no follow up is. First of all, this type of “mission” implies that no assessment of the target population has been carried out. InterIntel conducted a 265-household survey in Les Anglais last year to collect socioeconomic data, agricultural productivity data, present energy use data, and to find out what types of energy-related products or projects were most desired. Second, this type of medical mission does not charge a price for the goods being made available. Based on a broad economic literature linking usage rates to price, we predict that lamps and systems will be used and cared for if the actual market price is paid for them. Third, you say that these missions do not have follow-up. As evidenced by our initial assessment survey, InterIntel believes strongly in self-evaluation. We intend to implement follow-up surveys, utilize technologies to measure the usage of systems, and work closely with the Clean Energy Store owners to evaluate the efficacy of the project.

The picture which accompanies this blog post is misleading. That is not a photograph of the lamp we will be making available; InterIntel is not providing “camping gear.” The lamp pictured is not what will be sold at the Store. The portable lamps, which will be priced at $20, actually resemble the “Sunnan” lamp carried by IKEA (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90154371) in their design. However, the lamps that will be sold at the store use a 1 Watt panel on a 20 foot cord which is detachable from the base when not needed. This panel can also be used to charge a cell phone. Light from the lamp is provided by 12 LEDs. While $20 may seem like a high price for a family who earns only $500 a year, it is a bargain when compared to what they spend on their current lighting source. We have good reason to believe that even at $20, these lamps will sell briskly.

In no way are we treating the members of our partner communities as “2nd class.”

You need not be frightened by the prospect of people taking out microloans for Solar Home Systems. As stated in the blog entry, 75% of the households in our sample pay at least $1.42 per month per room on lighting. At an average of 3 rooms per household, that’s about $4.50 per month for the bottom 25th percentile. In other words, 75% of households pay more than $4.50 per month on lighting – only 25% spend less than this. As such, the savings generated by switching all of your lighting from kerosene and candles to light provided by a Solar Home System is sufficient to match decently sized monthly loan repayments.

I urge you to read this document on expanding access to energy services using microfinance: http://www.seepnetwork.org/Resources/5875_file_Energy_Summary_FINAL.pdf.

As for the systems themselves, they of course include all necessary parts to be functional, reliable and robust. All parts come with manufacturer warrantees, and the store provides “check-ups” for the systems at regular intervals at no cost as part of its warrantee. These check-ups will be performed by local electricians who have been trained on the siting, installation and maintenance of solar home systems by InterIntel employees and partners.

For a cynic, I would expect you to be wary of working with EdH. I’m not a cynic, but I do know that I have much more faith in our community partners than EdH based on my experience in Haiti.

Thank you for your comments. Please refer to our website and our first quarterly progress report (http://interintel.org/?page_id=231) for more information. I feel that many of your concerns, questions and comments are answered in the existing descriptions of our work. Feel free to send me an email.

Dan Schnitzer
Co-Director
InterIntel

torn

Soumis par Nick (non vérifié) le dim, 06/07/2009 - 22:20.

I always find myself on the fence on projects such as the one taking place in Les Anglais. Solar powered lamps to replace kerosene, great idea. There's a need, and the solution is green. But realistically, the price is high and are LED lamps really the answer? Doesn't Les Anglais, and the rest of Haiti, need public power?
I may be stretching here, but this reminds me of your a-typical medical mission to Haiti. Doctors often come to Haiti and hand out medicines with little or no follow up, something that would never be done in the rest of the world. In essence, InterIntel is providing camping gear as the solution to Les Anglais' electrical problems. Would this approach be done anywhere else in the world? By providing Haitians solutions in ways we would never dream of trying elsewhere are we not treating them as 2nd class?
I'm also frightened of the thought of people taking out loans for home solar systems. Do these systems include batteries and or inverters which will need maintenance and replacing? Micro loans are usually made for people to produce some type of revenue; in this case, $1.42 of monthly savings in kerosene. If one is expected to payback the loan from this savings the repayment cycle would be ridiculous. Add in upkeep and replacement expenses and I truly feel sorry for the person who took out this loan.
Call me a cynic, but the more time I spend in Haiti the less I believe the thousands of small, independent, religious and grassroots organizations are the answer to Haiti's problems.
In the long run I'd think this organization could help Haiti become more sustainable and have a more lasting impact if it worked with EdH and helped it find green solutions to the national electrical problem.

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