AMPATH taps Chloride Solar to power its mobile x-ray clinics
Sponsored by Chloride Solar
AMPATH, a medical organisation that works to improve access to healthcare and wellness among underserved communities, has adopted solar as an energy source to power medical x-rays for its mobile diagnostic clinics. The clinics’ initial design included a petrol generator for each, says Patrick OMeara, the designer and engineer who built them.
“Since x-ray machines have high power demand, we had to install a huge generator with a capacity of 10Kva for each mobile clinic. Yet to capture images, the x-ray machine is fired for a very small amount of time – within microseconds,” he says.
Moreover, the generators would be unreliable at times, adds OMeara. The problem has since been eliminated with the introduction of solar-powered x-rays.
“The decision was also important because solar energy is clean and renewable. The fact that we would be operating a medical solution with zero pollution was important to us too,” OMeara says.
“The reason we chose Chloride Exide is that they were willing to work with us and adapt to our particular need,” he continues, and then explains: “The Chloride team, even before there was any guaranteed sale, began to research and develop prototypes; doing tests along the way.”
Chloride Exide General Manager, Karanja Njoroge, says the AMPATH project presented a unique challenge for the company.
“The bespoke solutions we provide with Chloride Solar are meant to assist organisations achieve efficiency and increase profitability, all while protecting the environment from industry type pollution. We are happy that the mobile clinics will also be operating without polluting the environment,” he says.
Other benefits of adopting the solar system, OMeara says, include its ability to yield a steady stream of electricity. “With the generator, we suffered lots of voltage fluctuations, which then caused troubles for the x-ray systems. The solar system also has minimal energy wastage.”
OMeara points out further that the petrol generator, with all its movable parts, would need much more frequent servicing. They would additionally suffer greater and faster wear and tear.
The video below presents a comprehensive view of the AMPATH solar-powered mobile x-ray clinics.
Learn more about AMPATH from https://www.ampathkenya.org/
