SolarWorld panels headed to Haiti

SolarWorld, which operates its largest North American manufacturing facility in Hillsboro, is donating solar modules to power 10 pump stations to provide clean, safe water for up to 175,000 earthquake survivors in Haiti.

SolarWorld is donating modules to the nonprofit Water Missions International (WMI) for use in water-pumping stations in the Haitian capital of Port-Au-Prince. At a discount, the company also has shipped modules to operate about 25 additional WMI water stations.

SolarWorld is donating the 10 kilowatts of solar equipment through its Solar2World program, which provides equipment for off-grid rural solar projects in the developing world. Last summer, the program gave more than 10 kilowatts in modules to a clinic in a remote Haitian village. The clinic reportedly is serving quake refugees.

Walt Ratterman, co-founder of SunEnergy Power International, directed the clinic project. Ratterman has been missing in Haiti since the Jan. 12 earthquake. Jean Jacques Sylvain, principal of longtime SolarWorld distributor Green Energy Solutions, is helping to search for him.

"Walt is a hero to many of us in the solar industry,” said Paul Dailey, U.S. coordinator of the Solar2World program and marketing manager for SolarWorld. “We're all pulling for him and praying he is found soon."

Solar2World is participating in another project in Nicaragua.