Solar panels light up Yolanda housing site
Cebu Gov Hilario Davide III (2nd from right) looks on as a representative from Habitat for Humanity switches on a a solar-powered lamp in a housing unit for Yolanda survivors in Sta. Fe town, Bantayan island.
(CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
A relocation site in Sta. Fe town in Bantayan Island is using solar power to light up newly built housing units for supertyphoon Yolanda survivors.
The 216 houses built by Habitat for Humanity are equipped with modular solar systems (MSS) by the Stiftung Solar Energy Foundation in partnership with Hybrid Social Solutions Inc.
The output of 3.2 volts is enough to power two lamps inside the duplex houses.
During the morning, beneficiaries can plug other devices in the charge controller which has two USB ports.
All houses have solar panels set up on their roofs which transmits power to a charge controller inside the unit.
The foundation shelled out P2.24 million for the purchase of the solar kits which cost about P8,200 each.
“Eventually, if the site gets connected to the power lines, the beneficiaries can still use these for emergency situations especially during blackouts,” said Boyet Ilagan, institutional sales manager of Hybrid Social Solutions.
“We are committed to providing lighting for those who have none, to lift up the morale of the people. At least every time they go home after a hard day’s work, naa nay suga (they have light),” said Ilagan
The 2.3-hectare relocation site was one of the areas visited last Saturday by Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III, Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale and other provincial officials during the first anniversary of supertyphoon Yolanda landfall in northern Cebu.
Representatives from Habitat for Humanity and Stiftung showed government officials around the 2.3-hectare relocation site in barangay Maricaban.
The municipal government of Sta. Fe purchased the lot as its counterpart to the housing project.
During the visit, the governor thanked the two foundations for shouldering the burden of resettlement as the provincial government continues to wait for the housing projects from the national government.
“We thank these groups. They made the challenge of resettlement more bearable,” Davide said during a short program at the site.
Davide had also inspected the relocation site funded by another nongovernment organization, the Islamic Relief Worldwide, in barangay Sillon in Bantayan town.
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