SolSol
Rural Solar Power Solution for Papua New Guinea
Our Project Goals
Our Vision
Access to reliable, clean electrical energy will become an everyday reality for most Church institutions and their communities in remote rural areas by 2030.
This will improve the education and healthcare situation, open up new economic opportunities and change the daily life for people living in remote rural areas.
Mission Statement
Make use of PNG’s abundant solar potential to produce electrical power locally in the communities through deployment of small self-contained solar power stations for daytime and night-time usage.
The Concept
Young people in the communities – boys and girls equally – are trained to maintain and operate the installed solar power stations, securing the independent power supply to their communities. The solar power station provides elementary levels of comfort to the community, such as lighting for family houses and public spaces, energy for water pumps and security lights at night-time.
The Project
The SolSol Project is commissioned by ELCPNG, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea. The project builds small Solar Power Stations for Health facilities, Schools, Seminaries for adult education and the local communities living at these Church institutions..
ELCPNG has about 2 million members. It maintains programs extending from its core mission to preach the Gospel to providing social services like education, health, economic empowerment and development. Several of ELCPNGs programs and institutions are operational over 100 years by now. ELCPNG is highly respected as a pioneer in the development and social service work in PNG, such as health services, transport, trading, education, infrastructure and communications.
The Sites
Health facilities
Schools
Seminaries
Fact Sheet Papua New Guinea
The Country
- Pacific island located North of Australia
- World’s second-largest island
- Area about 460,000 km2
- Population approx 10 million, thereof 85% in rural areas
- Up to 40% analphabet rate
- Over 800 local languages
- Mountaineous, often inaccessible, only few roads
The History
- Discovered and named “New Guinea” around 1550 by Portuguese/ Spanish sailors. First foreign settlements started in 1884 by German colonialists.
- Colonial period:
- German Empire (1884-1915)
- Australian protectorate/ territory (1918 – 1942; 1945 – 1975)
- Since 1975: independent sovereign state (parliamentary democracy)
The Infrastructure
- Road transport: only three inter-city “highways”, partially in bad condition; China is heavily investing in road construction, mainly for its own economic interests
- Maritime transport: container harbours in Port Moresby, Lae, Madang. Small dinghy boats run along the coastal villages for transport of people and goods
- Air transport: Air Niugini and PNG Air serve major towns, else private charter planes/helicopters and church-affiliated operators fly to many small inland airstrips
- Electrical infrastructure is over-aged and poorly maintained by the state monopolist company “PNG Power Ltd”
- Electricity: only 19% of the population currently has regular access to electricity, mostly in urban areas. Power blackouts are common several times a day
- Telecommunication: 3 mobile network providers exist in urban areas; in most rural areas only a single network provides coverage
- Internet: most people use their cellphone as the single device for internet access; two providers for satellite link connections are available. Their fees, however, are too expensive for most locals to afford.
The Economy
- Rich on primary resources: gold, silver, oil, gas, copper, nickel, iron ore and others
- Rich on natural resources: timber, cacao, coffee, cinnamon, fish, palm oil
- Raw materials are exported, processed abroad and re-imported at high prices
- Very little downstream processing industries
- High youth unemployment rate leading to criminal activities, gang wars in urban fringe areas
- Large loss of value for PNG’s economy by exploitation of resources by foreign companies
- Massively negative foreign trade balance
- Ambitious government goal to make PNG a “middle-income country” by 2030
The strategic struggle for supremacy
- Trade with South-East Asia is growing strongly (China, Japan, Korea)
- Trade with Australia, Europe, USA is decreasing
- China is heavily investing in all sectors in PNG, trying to establish a strategic foothold in the South Pacific region
- PNG is moving closer to Asia, loosening its historic ties with Western countries
The Challenges
- Many church institutions in rural areas have no reliable power supply: state-owned power utility is expensive, inefficient and not interested in restoring service in rural areas. This results in frequent blackouts, often daily and lasting up to several weeks
diesel generators in rural towns may have outages for several weeks due to lack of fuel - “no power, no shower”: lack of drinking water causes problems with health and hygiene, no washing, cooking or drinking water for the people
- “no power, no light”: security issues for girls and women in public spaces after dark, no study/work for students after sunset, healthcare work during night hours under harsh conditions, including surgery and childbirth. This is not acceptable for the 21st century
Our Partners
Funding partners
- Brot für die Welt (to be confirmed)
- Mission Eine Welt (to be confirmed)
- Pawarim komuniti (to be confirmed)
- Australian Luth. World Service (to be confirmed)
- Church communities in Europe
Contributing partners
- BOS AG (Braun Memorial Hospital, Finschhafen)
- selina photovoltaic (in German language)
Cooperation partners
Implementation partners
- Local installers
- Transport companies
- wholesaler
Funding & Donations
Donations are welcome in many ways. We say Thank You! for any financial contribution.
For any other ideas, please contact us.
International Account
- Account holder: ypsi gmbh – SolSol project
- Bank: Unicredit Bank Austria
- SWIFT/BIC: BKAUATWW
- Bank Code: 12000
- Account No: 100 4361 5532
- for EU transactions:
- IBAN: AT68 1200 0100 4361 5532
PNG Account
(to be announced soon)
Donation Wish list:
3 project laptops Lenovo Thinkpad series w. Windows10 or Windows11- PC Beamer for Engineering School courses
transport of a Toolbox (ca 30 kg) from Europe to PNG
Our Team
Project Owner: ELCPNG Executive Team
Revd. Dr. Jack Urame
Head Bishop
Revd. Lucas Kedabing
Vice Bishop
Mr. Bernard Kaisom
Church Secretary
The Steering Committee
Bonnie Keoka
Head of Lutheran Development Services
Katu Yapi
Head of Lutheran Health Services
Rev. Giesa Panpan
Head of Ministerial Services
Daniel Suan
Head of Educational Department
The Project Team
Markus
Project Initiator
Abundant sunshine is God’s gift to PNG and we have ignored this valuable present till today. As an electrical engineer, I would love to see PNG’s villages being powered up by plain sunshine.
E-Mail: office@sol-sol.org
Bonnie
Local Project Manager
Reliable access to electricity will significantly improve the lives of families in rural areas by enabling better health, educational and business opportunities. After 30 years of experience working and living with families in rural PNG: solar energy is the #1 way forward. Tenkyu tumas!
E-Mail: office@sol-sol.org
Charlie
Lead Engineer
With a global shift towards green renewable energy, the SolSol project aims to pioneer the implementation of solar-powered minigrids for rural communities in PNG. Reliable access to electrical energy will improve the livelihood of people and educate them on the responsible use of generation, distribution and usage of energy.
E-Mail: engineering@sol-sol.org
Anna
Solar Expert
Electricity brings quality of life. Knowledge opens up new perspectives – equally for women and men.
E-Mail: engineering@sol-sol.org
Latest News
-
Meet … Anna
Read more: Meet … AnnaTell us something about yourself in short words My name is Anna and I have worked in different technical jobs, including solar construction engineer. I am always eager to learn new things, and I also like to share my gained knowledge…
-
Meet … Pastor Panpan
Read more: Meet … Pastor PanpanTell us something about yourself in short words My name is Giesa Panpan, I lead the department of ministerial services in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (ELCPNG). I was a former college lecturer before becoming…
-
Meet … Katu Yapi
Read more: Meet … Katu YapiTell us something about yourself in short words My name is Katu and I am currently working as the Head of Lutheran Health Services in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea. My interests include mitigation of issues in…
Let’s connect!