TIDE programme with Georgetown Global Health, then EGPAF: 27 solar systems at 22 health facilities
Since 2020, 27 solar systems have preserved HIV test samples, run laboratories and powered maternity wards and electronic medical record (EMR) servers at 22 health facilities, maintained every year, now for EGPAF.
The TIDE programme, run in Cameroon by Georgetown Global Health (GGH) and funded by PEPFAR through the US CDC, supports HIV testing and treatment in the East and Centre regions. Since 2020, SmartSana Energies has powered it with solar.
Every site receives the same system: a 3.5 kVA inverter, 10 kWh battery and 12 × 320 Wp panels. These systems power the cold units that preserve HIV test samples and laboratory equipment such as centrifuges, and let field agents charge their phones and laptops. They were later upgraded to power the electronic medical record (EMR) servers.
The programme began with a pilot site at Nanga-Eboko District Hospital, at the Chantal Biya Foundation. Once the pilot was approved, 13 sites were commissioned between 2020 and 2021, then 8 sites between 2021 and 2022, and in late 2022 the maternity wards of five district hospitals (Abong-Mbang, Garoua-Boulaï, Yokadouma, Bétaré-Oya and Nanga-Eboko): 27 systems in all, at 22 facilities.
We carried out yearly maintenance of every installation until 2024, when GGH transferred the programme to EGPAF (Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation). We have continued to maintain these installations for EGPAF ever since.
