Located 30 km from Port-au-Prince, in an area where the flow of electricity is intermittent, the University Hospital in Mirebalais is one of the world's largest solar powered hospital. The new 200,000-square-foot hospital holds on its roof 1,800 solar panels that in sunny days are able to produce more energy than the hospital can consume.

"Before the facility even opened its doors—the official opening was slated for March—the system churned out 139 megawatt hours of electricity, enough to charge 22 million smartphones and offset 72 tons of coal. Perhaps most important is that the excess electricity will be fed back into Haiti’s national grid, giving a much-needed boost to the country’s woefully inadequate energy infrastructure," noted Partners in Health, one of the organizations that supported the reconstruction of the hospital.

Other green-friendly features at the hospital include natural ventilation that minimizes the need for air conditioning and motion-sensor activated lights that cut energy consumption by 60 percent when compared with traditional lighting.

“The challenge was in the design and engineering, and getting the solar power produced to mesh with the often unstable grids and the backup generators,” said Jim Ansara, University Hospital’s director of design and construction. “At each step of the way, we were attempting things that had never before been done in Haiti.”

Solon, a German company, supplied the solar panels while Massachusetts-based Solectria Renewables manufactured the inverters, the devices that convert the electricity and send it to the grid. To get the system up and running, engineers from Sullivan & McLaughlin Companies traveled to Haiti and trained six local electricians on how to install and maintain the system.

Using solar is expected to slash $379,000 from the hospital’s projected annual operating costs.