Ekialo Kiona
The Ekialo Kiona Center is part of Organic Health Response, a community-based organization on Mfangano Island. access:energy worked in collaboration with OHR and Inveneo to install the first renewably powered, community owned radio station and internet booster site in Africa (we believe). The station is powered by a hybrid system consisting of two of our Night Heron wind turbines and one solar PV panel. The remote mountain-top Ekialo Kiona site is only accessible by foot demostrating that no site is too remote for our access-energy engineers. It has also served as the testing ground for our bitHarvester, a device that delivers real-time information on the status of our energy systems to our office in Kisumu. The Ekialo Kiona internet portal is working smoothly, and the radio station is slated for launch at the end of July 2012.
Rusinga Island
Rusinga Island lies in the eastern region of Lake Victoria, along Mbita Point. Members of the local community were searching for a source of renewable energy to power lights on the island when they contacted access:energy. Soon after, we installed a wind turbine at the home of Moses Wakiaga that now provides power to multiple families in the area. The turbine also includes one of our recently developed bitHarvesters, which regularly updates us on local conditions and system performance. To date, the Rusinga installation is behaving beautifully.
Give Us Wings
Located in a remote region of Nyanza province, the Nyaoga Dispensary is a medical clinic that was built by local women who pooled together their savings. They have since been supported by the American organization Give Us Wings, and their facilities now include an IT center and a school. access:energy built a wind turbine to complement the Dispensary’s existing solar system, which often left them in the dark. In fact, just before we arrived at their facility, the Give Us Wings staff delivered a baby by torch and candlelight. Now, with the addition of an access:energy wind turbine, they have enough electricity to power a collection of lights, medicinal refrigerators, microscopes, centrifuges, and computers.