Projects

Location: Malawi

Sopowerful Foundation was established in 2019 with the mission to apply ‘solar where it matters most’. Since its foundation in 2019, it  has implemented over 20 solar systems, most of these in Malawi, two in Tanzania and one in Lebanon. Over 110,000 people have been positively impacted to date.

The solar power installations are realized to enable or empower Healthcare, Education or access to Water where this creates or improves opportunities for children. Electrification through solar power enables tangible and sustainable development in those areas where the lack of access to electricity implies daily experience of severe challenges.

NextEnergy Foundation is supporting SoPowerful to install an 8.1kWp rooftop solar PV system on Chiringa Health Centre in Phalombe, Southern Region, Malawi.

The Heath Center is located in the southern region of Malawi in the Phalombe District, a vulnerable area that is regularly affected by cyclones. The center offers health services to over 16,700 people every year. It is currently grid connected although it suffers from regular, daily power cuts, which limits the healthcare services that can be provided .

Following Cyclone Freddy in early 2022, Chiringa Health Center went without electricity for 2.5 months. In this period the hospital managed to serve 8587 patients and referred 200 patients to another facility.

The health center staff is onboard and committed to learning about how to operate and manage the system to ensure the project’s long-term success.

July 2024 Updates: Sopowerful celebrated the inauguration and handover of the new solar system, which brought great joy to everyone involved.

The project is contributing to the following relevant achievements:

  • increase in the number of working hours for health services during day and night,
  • increase the number of patients assisted annually,
  • decrease of number of patients referred to other facilities because of unreliable power supply as electronic equipment (e.g Oxygen machines) will be regularly functioning.

Moreover, the solar power system facilitates safe and reliable access to clean water. These sustainable solutions will empower Chiringa to fulfill its mandate of delivering quality healthcare services even in challenging circumstances.

The system, consisting of an 8.1kW peak rooftop-mounted solar PV array, is now serving as the primary power source for the health center, with the grid serving as a backup. Since its installation, the solar PV hybrid system has consistently provided reliable power for the health center, ensuring uninterrupted operation.

During commissioning and handover, 3 people from the Health Center were trained on the basic operation and maintenance of the system.

Location: Tanzania

Sopowerful Foundation – Who they are and what they do

The Sopowerful Foundation is a Dutch organization founded in 2019 with the mission to apply solar energy “where it matters most”—specifically in underserved communities facing critical challenges due to lack of reliable electricity. Sopowerful empowers local, life-changing initiatives by installing solar-powered systems in three key areas:

  • Healthcare: Electrifying clinics and hospitals to improve medical services, especially in remote or disaster-prone regions
  • Education: Providing reliable electricity to schools and vocational centers, enabling better learning environments and opportunities
  • Water Access: Powering water systems for hygiene, drinking, and irrigation, which supports health and food security

Sopowerful operates through close collaboration with local partners to identify communities where electricity shortages severely impact daily life. Their process begins with assessing urgent needs in healthcare, education, and water access, and then designing solar-powered solutions that are both technically robust and socially sustainable. Sopowerful emphasizes long-term impact by involving local stakeholders throughout the implementation process, ensuring that each system is maintained and embraced by the community. Their work is aligned with several UN Sustainable Development Goals, reinforcing their commitment to equitable development and climate resilience.

Since its inception in 2019, the Sopowerful has installed over 30 solar systems across Malawi, Tanzania, and Lebanon, positively impacting more than 300,000 lives. These installations have transformed clinics, schools, and water systems, bringing reliable electricity to places where it was previously unavailable or unstable.

In 2024, Sopowerful partnered for the first time with the NextEnergy Foundation to install an 8.1kWp rooftop solar photovoltaic system at the Chiringa Health Centre in Phalombe, Malawi. Despite being connected to the grid, the centre faced daily power outages that compromised healthcare delivery. The new solar system now ensures a stable energy supply, enabling uninterrupted medical services and contributing to a reduction of nearly one tonne of CO₂ emissions annually. The Chiringa Health Centre project, supported by the NextEnergy Foundation in 2024, stands out as a powerful example of this impact. Thanks to the solar power system, the centre now offers consistent healthcare services and access to clean water, significantly improving the quality of life for the 16,700 people it serves annually.

What NEF Does with Sopowerful Foundation:

In 2025, the NextEnergy Foundation partnered with the Sopowerful to implement a transformative solar energy project at St. Walburg’s Nyangao Referral Hospital in Tanzania’s Lindi region. The hospital, which serves a catchment area of nearly 1.93 million people and treated over 64,000 patients in 2024, has long struggled with unreliable electricity from the national grid—facing frequent outages, voltage fluctuations, high power costs and damage to critical medical equipment.

To address this, Sopowerful designed a professional-grade solar power system tailored to the hospital’s needs. The installation will feature 360 solar modules donated by the NextEnergy Foundation, delivering a total installed capacity of 210kWp. This system will be paired with a 250kW inverter and 512kWh of battery storage, ensuring stable and high-quality electricity for essential departments such as emergency, ICU, operating rooms, laboratory, radiology, pharmacy, and more than 20 other units.

The solar system will enable the hospital to reduce its dependence on diesel generators, lower its carbon footprint, and significantly improve healthcare delivery for over 60,000 people annually. The installation is scheduled for completion before the onset of Tanzania’s rainy season in mid-November 2025, marking a major step toward sustainable and resilient healthcare infrastructure in the region.