Solar power for Ukrainian villages without electricity

When our friend Daria, who worked as a teacher in the Czech Republic, was returning home to Ukraine in the winter of 2022, we asked her what she needed to take with her to Ukraine.

The answer was quick - powerful power banks. We didn't have to ask what she would need them for, the situation in Ukraine, whose energy infrastructure Russia was trying to damage as much as possible, was known. However, life without electricity, which in the EU brings romantic images of being in a remote countryside and taking a break from civilisation, quickly loses this romantic air when it is involuntary. Your mobile phone doesn't work, so you can't call a medical emergency for your children, you are cut off from information about the outside world and your relatives and friends with whom you share your problems, of which there are not a few in Ukraine. You read by candlelight or kerosene lamp. Everyone knows what changes when the electricity goes out one evening, but not everyone has tried to imagine in realistic practical terms what changes when the electricity goes out for several months.

Daria took the power banks away and we wondered what to do next. A power bank is a great thing if you live in a city where the power goes on at least occasionally, but if you live in a small village that has been without power for weeks and such the prospect may be in front of you, a power bank alone is not enough. It also needs to be charged. Since I am an electrical engineer by profession, I had the idea to make 10 photovoltaic assemblies and bring them to Ukraine. 

The technical solution is very simple.

The assembly contains 1 photovoltaic panel 285W, battery, battery charging regulator and 250 VA inverter, which from 12 V DC voltage of the battery produces normal 230 V AC as in the wall socket. The whole assembly is easily portable. Except for the solar panel, everything, including the sockets, is stored in an ordinary storage box. Just place the solar panel in a suitable location, connect the cable to the rest of the assembly in the box and the whole setup is ready. The output depends on the weather, however, the solar panel produces energy even under cloudy skies (less than on sunny days, of course). For the vast majority of days of the year, however, the battery is fully recharged in the evening. The setup is capable of delivering about 170 W continuously when fully illuminated without drawing power from the battery, the inverter's continuous output is 200 W, peak 400 W. The assembly will not only allow charging of mobile phones and power banks, but also short-term operation of energy saving lighting, radio sets, TV, laptop, energy-saving well water pump, etc. The price of one set is about 11 000,- CZK (440,- EUR), the set is based on proven Victron technology, which is designed for these purposes (island operation in harsh conditions).

Journey to Ukraine

After a few days of testing the real-life behaviour of the set-up, we loaded everything into a Skoda Octavia and set off with my friend Pavel on a trip to Ukraine. In the evening before leaving Kiev for Kherson, we learned that the Kakhovka dam had been destroyed. The original plan, to install panels in the villages around Kherson in person, fell through. (The villages are sometimes shelled from the opposite bank of the Dnieper by the Russian occupation army, and the feeling of being only a few kilometers away from Russian soldiers is not at all pleasant). The rising level of the Dnieper has flooded the settlements on its banks and also part of Kherson. People were busy evacuating those at risk. So we gave a thorough and illustrative briefing on how to use the solar devices and left nine ready-made devices with our friends in the warehouse of a local charity. In addition, in the non-flooded area on the west bank of the Dnieper, the electricity supply from the grid was restored after the liberation and the situation seemed only to get better and better. I had some doubts that our help might have come too late and the solar panels were no longer needed here. Our Ukrainian friends and people from the church charity assured me that as soon as the water recedes, many settlements will be without electricity again, so the solar kits will definitely come in handy. They were right, the shelling of the west bank continues and the problems with the electricity supply persist. The solar kits we brought were all eventually deployed ( video).

Just before Christmas, a message came from our friends:

Hello, Jan!

Hope you are doing good!

I have some news from Kherson.   ... Poeple didn't expect how the system are useful. Even in cloudy days. All the systems which you brought are working so good. People shared the panels if their village was disconnect to the electricity. The panels are so effective and helpful for the people there!

And today Kherson has horrible situation. russians destroyed electric station and Island district without electricity. And government told them that it's not possible to fix it this winter or even more. So Ruslan ask if you can help with few solar systems. It's okay if you are not. You helped a lot. But maybe you know someone who can help with it or any organisation where we can ask about the help?

Our plan. At the beginning of February 2024 we would like to bring to Ukraine another 10 solar sets

the same as last time (maybe with a little more battery capacity). We paid for the previous help from our family budget, it was about 5 000,- EUR. It is not exactly small money for us, so we will be glad if there are a few people who will support us and allow us to bring 10 solar kits to Ukraine this year.

Thank you.