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​Solar Solutions at NIH ICER Uganda​​

​​The NIH International Centers for Excellence in Research ​(ICER) in Uganda installed solar panel arrays to solve their unique problems associated with their unreliable grid. Although Uganda’s national power grid is sourced by hydropower,¹ it is relatively unstable due to droughts and poor maintenance.² This can result in unpredictable fluctuations which can cause outages or surges. For NIH ICER Uganda, even maintaining the sites with fuel generators proves difficult and costly given the potential for damage during surges. This unreliability could be devastating when it comes to operating essential machinery or maintaining samples through cold storage for NIH ICER facilities and research operations. To counteract this, the NIH ICER Uganda sites became 100% solar powered to meet their energy need.

​NIH ICER has four major solar panel installations at various locations in Uganda. Three of the sites are in Entebbe, a town on the shore of Lake Victoria, an hour south of the capital city Kampala. These arrays are split up across the office block, the data center, and the lab, located at the Uganda Virus Research Institute.³ Each of the sites has its own inverter, allowing them to generate energy independent from one another. The offices and data center located in Entebbe are single phase systems, while the lab in Entebbe is a three-phase system, which helps to meet the greater electrical demand. 

The Entebbe sites have a combined 29.34 kW system with 58 solar panels, enough energy capacity to completely power around 4 average households in the US daily.⁴ There are a total of 11 batteries installed as well, which store excess solar energy from Uganda’s many sunny days for back-up usage and overnight operations.

The fourth NIH ICER Uganda site is in Kalisizo, 90 minutes north of the Tanzanian border. The Kalisizo site has a far larger energy need in comparison to Entebbe. This site has a 125.28 kW system with 232 panels, which has the capacity to power about 17 US homes. Given its energy intensity, it requires three inverters, uses a three-phase electrical system, and has 27 batteries installed for overnight energy. It is the most recent installation of the four. The NIH Entebbe office block arrays were commissioned in late 2022, while the rest of the Entebbe systems and the Kalisizo system were all commissioned throughout 2023. 

As of May 21, 2024, these installations combined have produced 97.3 MWh of electricity. This, combined with the prevented fuel and maintenance costs, has resulted in saving more than $19,000. Typically, a solar system of this size and duration would also mean avoiding approximately 77.16 metric tons of CO2 emissions, which has the carbon sequestering equivalent of over 1,200 tree seedlings grown for 10 years.⁵ However, since more than 80% of electricity in Uganda is generated through hydroelectric plants, the CO2 emission reductions may look different than they would in a fossil fuel-dominated grid like the U.S.¹ The most important element is that they have been able to maintain the energy stability on-site and allow for adequate operations to take place.

The NIH ICER Uganda locations have solar irradiation totals that are surprisingly close to stateside readings, around a max of 5.5 kWh/m2/day as opposed to 4.75 in North Carolina.^6,7 While their overall energy requirements are far less than those stateside, and their solar irradiation conditions are much more ideal, their ability to operate on 100% carbon-pollution free electricity speaks volumes to the possibilities and ingenious solutions the NIH is capable of. 

To see the full report, complete with pictures, click here.

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​	​The Net-Zero Energy Warehouse with Victor Stancil​ ​​Victor Stancil, who operated as the lead project engineer for the Net-Zero Energy Warehouse project on the Research Triangle Park Campus, sits down to discuss this innovative building​. LEA​RN MORE​​​​

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​	​Revisiting the Green BINGO Board ​ ​Do you remember your environmental goals from January? Don’t worry, in this article, we will catch you up on the Green BINGO Board! We will address each row and give examples of some employees completing these initiatives.​​ ​​LEARN MORE​​​​

NEMS Training                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
Did you know? ​​The NIH Uganda site is an ideal location for solar panels due to its high year-round levels of sunlight. To learn more about alternative energy sources, please visit the NEMS T​raining webpage to view a short (20 minute) NIH environmental awareness training video.