ISLAMABAD — Every day, Mohammed Saber places a single rectangular solar panel on the roof of the bamboo-and-tarpaulin shack that he and his family have called home for years, the last stop on their journey after fleeing the Myanmar military’s brutal crackdown on the Rohingya in 2017.
The panel is part of a portable solar kit given to the Rohingya refugee family as humanitarian aid six years ago. It’s been the family’s primary source of electricity, making daily life much easier in the camp for the displaced in Teknaf, Bangladesh.
“We can now charge our phones, cook with light, children can study at night and use fans during the hot season,” said Saber, 35.
From the flood zones of Nepal to refugee camps in Africa, experts say solar energy is increasingly becoming part of disaster relief as technology improves, costs fall and humanitarian organizations recognize that having access to electricity is a fundamental need.
Renewable energy solutions are needed more than ever, they say, as climate change drives and intensifies extreme weather while wars, sanctions and political upheavals keep fossil fuel prices volatile.
When disasters strike and humanitarian needs surge, solar kits can become an invaluable resource, says Sarah Rosenberg-Jansen, a research fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute, an independent research and policy institute specializing in sustainable development.
These solar kits — all-in-one, compact units that are not reliant on utility companies — are easy to move and recharge, according to Rosenberg-Jansen.
“In emergency situations, solar kits can be deployed immediately,” she said, adding that they are particularly useful in situations with rapidly rising floodwaters, changing front lines in a conflict, or for areas where damaged roads make travel difficult.
In terms of function, the kits can be “anything from solar lanterns to solar home systems, solar torches, solar heating pads, to electric cook stoves that use solar as their energy source,” she said.
Rosenberg-Jansen also pointed out that solar panels are not prone to price shocks like fossil fuels, which can be difficult and costly to transport to a disaster zone.
Only a few decades ago, solar energy was a luxury, she added, but as technology evolved, mindsets and the price tag changed. Now it’s more affordable, thanks to the scaling up of mass manufacturing and technology advancement.
It’s also so much easier to use, said Yuriy Boyechko, CEO of Hope For Ukraine, a nonprofit based in the United States that provides solar kits to families living in war-torn Ukraine.
Information for this article was contributed by Ayub Khan Dkl of The Associated Press.
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