Dec 12, 2017
SUNNY DAYS FOR DESERVING INSTITUTIONS
Community
A common theme we usually encounter from charitable institutions, such as orphanages and welfare homes, is the extra daily operational costs and the large amount of precious time they spent on fundraising.
Some institutions have shared that utility expenses alone can take up to 50% of their monthly expenses. That’s because the power consumption of equipment, and the comfort of residents and students is a normal cost to be borne.
While most organisations had donated money to assist them in paying their bills, that was only a short term solution. That’s why we had decided to not only educate them on how they can save power, but also to help them in generating money to offset their monthly expenses.
TNB is focused on Renewable Energy initiatives - solar being one of them. We believed we could help these institutions gain a stable revenue by installing solar panels to help them generate electricity. The electricity generated were channelled into the National Grid, earning them money from the Feed in Tariff Scheme (Skim Galakan Tarif). This provided them with more stability and allowed them to focus on maintaining the quality of life for the people under their care.
This sustainable initiative aimed at assisting deserving institutions across the country is called ‘Lestari Community Project’ (Projek Komuniti Lestari).
The nationwide rollout began in 2015, with solar panels being installed in 19 institutions (consisting of Orphanages, Care Homes and schools) benefiting the lives of 2,854 residents. On average, these institutions managed to generate 14,374kW, which translated to an extra RM16,047 per institution annually.
The following years have seen the number of equipped institutions growing to 44, and the numbers are increasing annually. We are also looking to expand our efforts to other further reached locations nationwide, so we can equip even more institutions in 2018.