POST 01045E : SOLAR REFRIGERATOR

POST 01045E : SOLAR REFRIGERATOR Follow-up on Posts 01019E, 01027E, 01032E and 01037E 25 January 2007 ___________________________________________ This posting contains a record number of six contributions, coming from : 1. Robyn McIntyre (mailto:[email protected]) from Fiji 2. Nasim Ahmed (mailto:[email protected]) 3. John Pott (mailto:[email protected]) 4. Modibo Dicko (mailto:[email protected]) from WHO/AFRO 5. Dereje Ayalew (mailto:[email protected]) from WHO/Ethiopia, and finally from 6. Lydie Maoungou Minguiel (mailto:[email protected]) from UNICEF/Brazzaville, Congo ___________________________________________ Dear All, Picking up on the solar refrigeration technical support discussion, I would like to give the example of the nation of Kiribati which is made up of more than 33 islands scattered across literally thousands of miles of ocean. The privately owned Kiribati Solar Energy company now has trained solar technicians resident on most atolls. Training has involved a gradual upskilling which has taken place over many years as staff are gradually rotated through the main center in Tarawa spending time with more skilled technicians. The company have a contract with the Kiribati Health Ministry and are currently completing installation of 18 solar fridges funded by JICA and UNICEF. It is hoped therefore that most of the issues raised by Dr Brigitte Adjagba Touré,will be addressed- the paid technician should have the skills and also the interest to maintain the fridges and protect the panels from theft. We hope that this project may provide part of the solution to address the current low immunisation rates in Kiribati With warm wishes for the New Year, Robyn Dr Robyn McIntyre Project Officer -EPI, UNICEF Pacific Suva, Fiji -------------------------------------- I have been keenly following the contributions from key Technet members on the viability of Solar Refrigerator. WHO and Unicef jointly field tested the first few Solar refrigerators in mid eightees in India some 25 years ago. Later on some of the product found its place in the PIS. Since then it has been used sporadically in several African countries. Though the price has come down substantially, it still has problem at operational level in the field. Solar is not the only alternative to availability of power in the rural areas. There are several instances of maintaining cold chain at health centre level through RCW25 cold boxes by providing cold pack supply on weekly basis from a central point in the worst possible cases. Similar strategies were adopted running campaign in Somalia in 1990s. MALAWI achieved UCI in 1989 by storing vaccine in gas and kerosene refrigerators. Though I am not against use of solar power, but a few concerns still remain. My recent visit to Lebanon after the war was important on these concern. Solar fridges are not maintenance free as many people think. Life of battery has limited period and time to time replacement of control panel is necessary. Trained technicians as well as service back up from manufacturer are not readily available. The initial cost as well as maintenance cost are equally expensive and could be prohibitive for some countries. I have my conviction that whatever equipment are used in the cold chain, the desired results can only be obtained by the man behind the machine if he has the knowledge. So the training of personnel at field level both supervisors and health workers are key to this success. Machine whatever sophisticated it could be will not provide the guarantee. Nasim Ahmed. Former UNICEF SPO -------------------------------------- One of the main problems which cause the solar system to premature failure is because the manufacturers installation instructions are not followed to the letter. This particularly applies to the initial battery charging. This is quite time consuming and as a result the instructions are not followed. In this case it is quite probable that the battery will never have sufficient capacity to run the refrigerator. This is particularly true for the solar refrigerator suppliers that do not use the specialized batteries that are required for this application. It would be interesting to know what the failure rate of the solar refrigerators installed in Egypt in 1990/91 was/is as I know these units were installed correctly. Regards, JBP John Pott --------------------------------------- Dear friends, This discussion takes me back to the definition of health technology! Indeed it is defined as a set consisting of (1) equipment, (2) user’s guide and maintenance manual and (3) the user! Therefore the user is integral part of the technology: this is very important, but very often forgotten. When we say technology, we also say maintenance and the first person in charge of maintenance is its user. In 1982 at the Mali Laboratory for Solar Energy, we tested 4 solar refrigerators manufactured at the time by NASA (USA); 3 of the refrigerators were installed in public health centers and the 4th in a religious mission’s health facility. The first 3 refrigerators did not survive a year; they were out of use by 1983. As for the fourth one, it was still functioning in 1997, 15 years after its installation. Why is this possible ? Because users followed and applied religiously the principles prescribed by the user’s guide and maintenance manual! When the user carries out correctly routine maintenance, the need for a maintenance technician is minimized. This is why user training must be given the utmost importance. However there is need to call the maintenance technician from time to time. Brigitte said that there were lacking in the Sudan and Terkula said why not train local repairmen and get them to maintain solar refrigerators! The scene is set: the private sector must be called in! Pilot programmes by the public sector tend to underestimate the private sector and set up their own maintenance networks. Unfortunately, it fails most of the time, and from our surveys carried out in a number of West African countries between 1995 and 1997, the private sector was in charge of up to 70% of cold chain maintenance works (generally paid for from funds collected by health districts within the costs recovery scheme). Nevertheless, when a training programme is organized, technicians from the private sector are rarely invited. This is a mistake which needs to be corrected. Finally there is a third point (more delicate) which I’d like to submit. When I did the cold chain study in Senegal in 1993 for UNICEF, I suggested in my recommendations that each time a refrigerator was replaced as part of the cold chain replacement plan, the old refrigerator be given to the nurse and taken to his/her house for personal use . When young people are undergoing training, they live in urban area, because that is where nurse training schools are: thus they have access to electricity, cold drinks and refrigerated foods, television, etc. After training and graduation as nurses, they are recruited by the Ministry of Health and sent out to villages to run health centres and dispensaries. They sort of travel back in time, finding themselves in the situation with no electric light, no possibilities to keep foods and refrigerate drinks, and above 40o C in the shade, no more.... Then they put their meat, fish, coca or beer in the solar refrigerator at the health centre (and take them out as soon as they see an official vehicle coming). However the batteries of solar refrigerators are not made to take this kind of loads which put the whole electrical system under pressure, leading to frequent breakdowns. This is a problem that the health system should take into account in the design of health centres. Otherwise we will continue accusing solar refrigerators of a problem that is not theirs. Modibo Dicko Coordinator Immunisation Systems Support Vaccines Preventable Diseases Unit WHO/AFRO --------------------------------------- Dear all, I would like to have my personal comment towards the solar refreigerators. What I have witnessed from my field experience in the past 6 years is that, the proportion of non functional solar refrigerators is higher than that of kerosene and electric refrigerators. We do have more that 350 various brands of solar refrigerators and almost half of them are not functional. The main problem with this equipments are 1. Users of solar refrigerators uses the solar batteries for different purposes, for radio, tape recorder etc and this is directely connected from the battery rather than the charge regulator. this will cause the battery to drain with in few months. 2. The cost of solar battery is expensive to replace every year. 3.There is lack of technican to repair the complex solar refrigerator electronic circuits. In general, even if solar refrigerators are said to be very reliable, efficient and long lasting, the field reality does not reflect that at least in Ethiopia, which is mainly due to operational problems. This is my personal view. Regards Dereje Dereje Ayalew WHO/Ethiopia --------------------------- Dear all, I share Brigitte’s view on the cost of solar fridges and the risk of theft of solar batteries which we are experiencing here at home, as it is the case with the phone system. I wonder how others manage to secure their batteries. My best wishes for the New Year. Lydie Dr Lydie MAOUNGOU MINGUIEL Deputy Administrator, EPI UNICEF Brazzaville Republic of Congo ______________________________________________________________________________ All members of the TechNet21 e-Forum are invited to send comments on any posting or to use the forum to raise a new discussion or request technical information in relation to immunization services. 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