Gaza has access to less than 40% of the energy it needs. Locals hope solar power can fill the gap.
Palestinians are taking advantage of solar energy to keep the lights on even amid periodic outbreaks of deadly violence with Israel.
To keep the lights on and the machines working at the only blood bank in the Gaza Strip, Palestinians are tapping the one natural resource they have in abundance: sunlight.
Just how vital this energy source is became apparent earlier this month when the power plant in the teeming territory was shut down by the most recent exchange of missile and rocket attacks between Israel and Islamic Jihad in northern Gaza.
But the Central Blood Bank Society, whose rooftop is covered with solar panels, kept operating despite the bombardment that caused widespread power outages across the rest of Gaza.
“Our project helped them, and this escalation was a first test,” Sami Matar told NBC News over Zoom from the Gaza Strip.
Matar, who works with the U.S. nonprofit agency American Near East Refugee Aid, or Anera, on solar projects throughout Gaza, said the solar power system installation helped the blood bank operate longer in working hours. He said the generator is often the second alternative when the standard power supply through the fuel-sourced power plant goes out. The whole project cost $46,000, and the panels are estimated to last about 20 years.
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