Hanwha Q CELLS donates solar modules to hurricane-hit region in Colombia

Hanwha Q CELLS has donated solar modules to La Guajira, Colombia, a region that was hit by hurricanes in late 2020. A total of 310 kW of solar modules from Hanwha Q CELLS are scheduled to arrive at the port of Cartagena in August to help to restore the power infrastructure and also revitalize education locally. With on-the-ground assistance from the Institute for Planning and Promotion of Energy Solutions for Non-Interconnected Zones (IPSE) under the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Colombia, the module shipment will be delivered to educational facilities attended by about 5,600 students.

In Colombia, swathes of electricity, telecommunications and water infrastructure were all damaged by Eta and Iota, two hurricanes that hit Central and South America in November 2020. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 14,470 households and 68,883 people were affected by the hurricane in La Guajira, the region to which Hanwha Q CELLS has donated its high-quality solar modules.

This module donation to Colombia is the latest act of social goodwill by Hanwha Q CELLS. The company has regularly sought to create social good by utilizing the characteristics of solar technology. For example, Hanwha Q CELLS donated photovoltaic systems to schools in North-east Japan back in 2011, where the power grid was destroyed by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

In 2019, Hanwha Q CELLS donated solar modules to the ‘Clean Up Mekong’ campaign conducted by Hanwha Group. The campaign provided two solar-powered waste-collecting boats to Vinh Long, Vietnam, to help remove floating waste from the river in an environmentally-friendly manner.

Hanwha Q CELLS also cooperates with Hanwha Group on the ’Happy Sunshine’ campaign, an eco-friendly social contribution program designed to help combat climate change while offering communities the tools they need to become more energy self-sufficient. The program provides social welfare centers in Korea and abroad with free solar power generation equipment. Since 2011, Hanwha Group has donated 2,187 kW of photovoltaic systems to 320 social welfare facilities in Korea, driving sustainable energy adoption in communities in need by leveraging its solar businesses’ expertise and world-class technology. Hanwha Group has also donated solar power generation systems to elementary schools in the Qinghai and Hubei provinces of China. Hanwha Group’s donations not only provide the schools with a continuous source of reliable electricity, but they have also helped improve the schools’ overall conditions and enabled students and teachers to better understand the true value of sustainable development.

Furthermore, Hanwha Q CELLS has continuously participated in the 'Hanwha Solar Forest' campaign, in which Hanwha Group creates eco-friendly forests with seedlings grown using solar power to respond to desertification and fine dust issues. Through the campaign, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, Hanwha Group created eight forests in Korea, China and Mongolia, and has so far planted over 500,000 trees.

This campaign was introduced as the world’s first corporate campaign utilizing solar energy to prevent desertification at the 2011 United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) event. Then, at the 2018 United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development held at the UN Headquarters, Hanwha Solar Forest was recognized again as an example of how corporate partnerships can contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Charles (Hee Cheul) Kim, CEO of Hanwha Q CELLS, said: “Solar energy is one of the most effective and eco-friendly ways to solve various social and environmental problems that humanity is facing. We will continuously provide innovative clean energy solutions to create a sustainable future, taking the lead in ESG management and social value creation.”

Notably, Hanwha Q CELLS is the only solar manufacturer that conducts Cyclone Testing at James Cook University (JCU)’s Cyclone Testing Station in Queensland, Australia, and shares the test reports upon request. JCU’s Cyclone testing is important in order to ensure that modules will withstand high wind-loads – even those delivered by destructive storms like Cyclone Larry in 2006. Larry raced over Queensland, Australia producing wind speeds of 240 km/h. Even higher wind speeds were produced by Cyclone Yasi, which crossed Mission Beach in Australia with up to 290 km/h. The solar modules that have been donated to Colombia have therefore been tested to withstand up to 7,310 Pa wind-load in non-cyclonic regions according the latest test results confirmed by JCU.