Summary
The Anawim Lay Missions Foundation, a facility for abandoned elderly located in the Rizal Province, requires reliable electrical power for lights and equipment in order to provide adequate patient care and save lives. Inadequate power supply services outages, as well as high electricity fees impede healthcare and services to the abandoned elderly. Anawim Lay Missions Foundation’s Partners will install solar power at the Anawim facility to ensure the elderly’s care can be provided without interruption and to reduce dependence on the government power company.

Challenge
Currently 43% of Anawim’s operating expenses pay for power. In late 2020, MERALCO, the government power company has announced that it will increase its costs to consumers, leaving even less funding available for other resources in Anawim’s budget.

Solution
Phase 1 of the solar project began in 2018 with the installation of solar panels and batteries for the solar-powered water pump, replacing the dependence on the MERALCO-powered electric water pump. This reduced the use of MERALO power by 40%. Early Phase 2 of the project will add more batteries and solar panels to the main building with the goal of reducing the dependency on MERALCO by 70% more than in Phase 1.

Long-Term Impact
Completion of Phase 2 of the solar power project (projected for 2021) will allow uninterrupted care in all Anawim buildins and full use of all available equipment. Ultimately, MERALCO power will serve only as back-up to the generated solar power.