SUN PARTNERS INTERNATIONAL
UPCOMING PROJECTS
Kao La Amani Pre-Primary and Primary Schools
Refurbishment, New Construction, & Solar Electrification
(Boma Ng'ombe, Tanzania - 2H 2025)
Sun Partners International’s next project in Tanzania is a campus-wide solar electrification system at the Kao La Amani pre-primary and primary schools in Boma Ng’ombe, Tanzania. Both schools are located less that 300 meters from the Kao La Amani Children’s Village and are attended by 60 children from the Village and another 340 children from the surrounding community.
Tír na nÓg (https://tirnanogchildrensfoundation.com/) the non-profit organization that runs Kao La Amani Children’s Village and the nearby pre-primary and primary schools, and Article 25, a London-based non-profit architectural firm, are refurbishing and constructing new facilities at both schools — with both campuses to be completely solar-powered, a “first-of-a-kind” (at least in Tanzania) groundbreaking project. Sun Partners will specify solar/battery capacity and the electrical system configuration to power both schools and will fund equipment, installation, and commissioning costs for the solar electrification system.
The program plan for the pre-school includes refurbished classrooms, new light fixtures, and an improved reading/sleeping room. The program plan for the primary school includes refurbished classrooms, new light fixtures, electrical outlets for A/V and IT devices, a new library, a new indoor kitchen (the current kitchen is “outdoors” using open air wood burning), and a new dining/study hall that can also be used as a gathering space for the Boma Ng’ombe community. Additionally, the program plans for both schools call for a new, shared groundwater pumping system. Sun Partners’ campus-wide solar electrification system will power all of these spaces and electrical loads. When completed these two innovative schools will provide a sustainable, high-quality learning environment, setting a new standard for youth education in Tanzania.
FAME Medical Clinic
Phase II - Major System Expansion
(Karatu, Tanzania - Ongoing)
Sun Partners and its Tanzanian technical partner Power Providers, Inc. recently assisted the FAME Medical Clinic in Karatu, Tanzania to assess strategies and equipment to improve the electrical efficiency and the reliability of power delivery to its ever-growing multi-facility medical campus. The assessment included data collection of the timing and magnitude of electrical loads, the intermittency and inconsistent quality of grid power, and their impacts on the Clinic's computers and medical equipment. The assessment also included a review of strategies and equipment to better integrate grid power, solar and battery power, and back-up generator power and an evaluation of additional solar power and battery capacities required to match added electrical loads associated with recent FAME campus expansions, including a new emergency room and maternity ward. Following the assessments, the 26 kW Phase I solar system previously installed by Sun Partners at FAME needs to be expanded to approximately 175 kW and the storage capacity of the Phase I lithium-ion battery system also needs to be increased 38x (to 730 kWh) to provide greater electrical carry-through during power outages, which frequently disrupt clinic operations.
COMPLETED PROJECTS
(Babati District, Tanzania - 1H 2025)
Manyara Primary Boarding School
Morongi Primary School
Maleshi Primary School
So They Can (STC) (www.sotheycan.org), a private, non-profit educational and community development organization, is coordinating with government agencies in Tanzania to improve childhood education in marginalized rural communities in the Babati district of central Tanzania. Altogether, STC is supporting 29 primary schools and 5 secondary schools. In July 2024 Sun Partners visited STC’s Manyara Primary Boarding School which has a student population of over 500 children (323 girls and 194 boys) with 100 students living/boarding at the school. Manyara School is located immediately adjacent to Tarangire National Park and is completely off-grid. It is not unusual for Manyara students to encounter hyenas or other animals at night when walking between buildings or paying a visit to the toilet block. Sun Partners performed a technical evaluation of Manyara school and completed work to electrify (via solar panels and advanced batteries) the entire Manyara campus, including lighting for select classrooms, the girl's and boy's dormitories, and the study/dining hall.
In addition, Sun Partners completed installation of solar-assisted water pumping systems at Manyara and two other STC non-boarding schools (Morongi Primary School with 445 girls and 403 boys and Maleshi Primary School with 166 girls and 204 boys) that didn't otherwise have access to a reliable supply of water, much less clean water.
Kao La Amani Children's Village
(Boma Ng'ombe, Tanzania)
Phase I - 1H 2023
Phase II - 2H 2023
Phase III - 1H 2024
Tir Na Nog, an Ireland-based charitable organization (https://tirnanogchildrensfoundation.com/) operates the Kao La Amani orphanage for 60 children in Boma Ng'ombe, northern Tanzania. The previous facility was cramped and ill-suited to house and care for so many children. As a result, Tir Na Nog engaged with Article 25, a London-based non-profit architectural firm, to design, engineer, and oversee construction of a new Kao La Amani orphanage in the same vicinity. Since the new Kao La Amani orphanage is off-grid, Sun Partners supported Tir Na Nog and Article 25 by funding and engineering solar PV/lithium-ion battery systems to power lighting and a groundwater pumping system with elevated storage tank, as well as solar thermal systems for water heating (Phase I). Due to excessively high levels of naturally-occurring fluoride in the groundwater at Kao La Amani, a solar-assisted reverse osmosis water purification system was also implemented by Sun Partners (Phase II). Phase III involved powering an additional children cottage and the administration building.
In February 2025 Tir Na Nog established a new dental clinic at Kao La Amani (see below) providing high quality dental care to the local community. The clinic is powered by Kao La Amani's solar system previously implemented by Sun Partners International and is equipped with a filtered water system to ensure safe, hygienic treatments.
To see and hear the compelling story of the Kao La Amani orphanage, check out:
https://tirnanogchildrensfoundation.com/childrens-village
and
https://tirnanogchildrensfoundation.com/kilimanjaro-mama.
Rift Valley Children's Village
(Oldeani, Tanzania - 1H 2023)
Rift Valley Children's Village (www.tanzanianchildrensfund.org) - located in a very remote location in northern Tanzania on the broad shoulders of Mount Oldeani - is a campus-style home for over ninety (90) children without families. RVCV previously pumped water from a borehole to a large central water tank using a loud, inefficient, and costly petrol-fueled generator. From the central water tank, water was pumped to each of the campus buildings and dormitories, also by a petrol-fueled generator. Sun Partners partnered with RVCV to replace the two petrol-fueled generators with two separate solar-powered water pumping systems to eliminate generator noise, fuel cost, and emissions.
Video: Operation Breakthrough and its solar-powered Ignition Lab
Operation Breakthrough's Ignition Lab
(U.S. Kansas City - 2021)
Operation Breakthrough (www.operationbreakthrough.org) provides before- and after-school educational programs and social services to 650 disadvantaged children from 6 months to 14 years of age. Sun Partners led a consortium of Kansas City-based organizations including Black & Veatch, MRIGlobal, JE Dunn Construction, and RisingSun Solar which donated funds, equipment, and labor for the planning, engineering, and construction of a 35 kW solar PV system on OB's new Ignition Lab (architecture + design by Clockwork) in mid-town Kansas City. Besides offsetting electricity costs for the Ignition Lab, the solar system complements OB's existing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs and Ignition Lab's STEM-curricula (including Green Tech) for older youth ages 15-18. The solar system also visually introduces sustainable power to the local community. For a closer look at the programs and services provided by OB, the story behind the Ignition Lab, and a bird's eye view of the Ignition Lab's solar system, check out the informative video produced by Black & Veatch above.
Nompumelelo Learning Center
Caring for Orphans in Rural Areas (CORA)
(Eastern Cape, South Africa 2018-2019)
Nearly 20 percent of all children in South Africa have lost either one or both parents, primarily due to HIV/AIDS. The number of children growing up without parents in the Eastern Cape of South Africa alone is estimated to be approximately 700,000.
A collaboration of corporate sponsor Black & Veatch, non-profit partner Caring for Orphans in Rural Areas (CORA), and Sun Partners International provided funding and engineering support for the implementation of a four kilowatt solar system with battery backup at the Nompumelelo Learning Center in the Eastern Cape village of Nqonoqweni, 50 kilometers from the nearest established town.
The Nompumelelo Learning Center center consists of classrooms, a kitchen, and play area. The solar/battery system powers indoor and outdoor lights, a refrigerator, a cooking kettle, and a personal computer. The battery system provides multi-day electricity storage in the event of extended inclement weather. The power enables Learning Center staff to prepare warm meals for the children, and members of the local village are able to use the Learning Center after hours. Most villagers in Nqonoqweni have never had access to electricity.
FAME Medical Clinic - Phase I
(Karatu, Tanzania 2017-2019)
Sun Partners funded and engineered a 26 kW solar PV/battery system for FAME Medical Clinic (www.fameafrica.org), a U.S.-run non-profit hospital near Karatu, Tanzania that serves a diverse patient population from the Maasai Tribe and multiple ethnicities. FAME consists of an outpatient clinic serving 1,600 patients per month, 24 bed inpatient hospital with emergency room and 2 operating rooms, laboratory and radiology facilities, and staff and volunteer housing. Delivery of health care by FAME is inhibited by a highly unreliable supply of power (average of 10+ power outages per week) from the grid and backup diesel generator.
The solar PV system for FAME improves the safety and health of surrounding communities by eliminating frequent power outages that interrupt medical exams and procedures and reduce the overall effectiveness of FAME to provide consistent, quality patient care. The Project also minimizes diesel fuel for the back-up generator, thus minimizing atmospheric emissions and noise in a very remote, environmentally-sensitive area of Tanzania (FAME is located adjacent to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro ecosystems).
Idetemya Girl's Dormitory- Phase II
(Idetemya, Tanzania 2015)
Sun Partners International again partnered with Africa School Assistance Project (ASAP) to electrify Phase II of the Idetemya Girl's Dormitory in Tanzania. The Phase II project involved the engineering, procurement, and installation of a roof-mounted solar array, battery storage, DC-AC conversion system (inverter), distribution panel, and electrical circuits to power the 2nd dormitory building, including the computer room, interior and exterior security lighting, kitchen/dining area, and perimeter security wall. The Phase II project expanded the capacity of the dormitory complex from 48 girls to 96 girls.
Idetemya Girl's Dormitory- Phase I
(Idetemya, Tanzania 2014)
Sun Partners International partnered with Africa School Assistance Project (ASAP) – a Denver-based non-profit organization that builds schools in Africa – to electrify a girl's dormitory in Idetemya Ward, a remote, unelectrified area of Tanzania. The Idetemya Girl's Dormitory was built to provide a safe, secure facility for teenage girls to reside and study to minimize risks associated with walking long distances daily to attend Idetemya Secondary School.
To enable the dormitory to function, a solar PV-powered electrical and lighting system was completed for Phase I of the dormitory (housing 48 girls) in October 2014. The Phase I project involved the engineering, procurement, and installation of a roof-mounted solar array, battery storage, DC-AC conversion system (inverter), distribution panel and electrical circuits to power the 1st dormitory building, including the computer room, interior and exterior security lighting, and toilet/bathing/laundry building.
Chibolya Community School
(Lusaka, Zambia 2013)
Sun Partners completed a solar-assisted water pumping project at a community school in Chibolya District, a mega-slum area which lies at the outskirts of Lusaka, Zambia served by a Children International community center. Chibolya Community School has 1,400 students, yet the School's water supply system had failed due to a inoperable hand pump on its water well.
The Chibolya water pumping project involved the engineering, procurement, and installation roof-mounted solar panels, 5,000 liter water tank and tank stand, DC submersible well pump, and associated plumbing to deliver water to students, administrators, and the community-at-large. The solar-assisted water pumping system produces, on average, 3,000 liters of clean water per day, a precious resource in an otherwise resource-scarce slum area of Lusaka.
