Israel’s ongoing siege of the disputed Gaza Region has led to a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions, and it has not helped that Israeli officials have cut the area’s access to the country’s power supply.
Palestinians living in the beleaguered region have, nevertheless, found ways with which to cope. Vital service providers like hospitals, for example, have shifted to the use of diesel-powered generators. However, with fuel running short as the siege continues, people in the area are seeking other ways to power necessary equipment. For this reason, the introduction of solar power solutions to the area in the previous decade has been of great service to the people.
A number of homes in the area have their own photovoltaic panels which have enabled them to maximize the 300 days of available sunshine that characterizes the region. This has become common in the region since relevant technologies were introduced back in 2015; since then, the number of homes and businesses that have solar power solutions on their premises has grown fourfold.
Likewise, the World Bank financed the installation of solar panels for the use of four hospitals in Gaza back in 2018. In the face of the ongoing crisis, however, even this may not be enough to keep patients at local hospitals alive.
Just last week, officials from the Red Cross warned that the decreasing amount of energy available within Gaza could lead to the worsening of the medical crisis already affecting the area.
Prior to the conflict, photovoltaic panels throughout Gaza could only generate around 20% of each household’s daily requirements. Now, whatever solar power is available is barely enough to keep locals’ smartphones powered up, let alone power the numerous life-saving instruments requiring electricity at hospitals and evacuation areas.
