Cuba´s National Library turns to solar energy

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 5 (ACN) A battery of 112 solar panels began operating at the José Martí National Library of Cuba, considered the first cultural institution in the country to be supplied with electricity in this way.

The energy generated is consumed internally and when there is a surplus it is automatically transferred to the National Power Grid, Omar Valido Cedré, director of the institution, told Cuban News Agency.

He explained that in practice its 28 modules, with four corresponding units, each one of them generates 1kw/h, totaling 280 kw/h, based on 10 hours of solar radiation that are not accumulated, but circulate and are consumed in real time.

He calculated that they represent approximately 1/4 to 1/3 of the daily expenditure on normal service days (1100-900 kw/h), 1/2 of working Saturdays (500 kw/h) and close to 100% of Sundays (300 kw/h).

Válido Cedré considered that its service is an important step to reinforce the concept and practice towards a green library, a sustainable space and the promotion of environmental care, among other purposes.

The installation and commissioning works, under contract, were carried out by COPEXTEL and financed by the Ministry of Culture.

The change of the energy matrix in the country is vital due to its high dependence on imported fuels for electricity generation and one of the actions of this transformation process must be the gradual increase in the rate of use of renewable energy sources, according to specialists in the field.

However, in their case, only 4.3 percent are used, equivalent to the production of 18 billion Kw/h per year.

With a view to increasing capacities, bioelectric plants are being built in sugar mills, as well as wind, solar, photovoltaic and hydroelectric power generating facilities, by means of the use of small and medium-sized waterfalls, according to the Cuban Society for the Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources and Environmental Respect (CUBASOLAR).

A considerable amount of this energy will be linked to the National Power Grid, through projects that contemplate the recovery of the investment in a relatively short period of time.

CUBASOLAR estimates that the archipelago receives an annual average of solar radiation of more than 1,800 Kw/h per square meter.

It insists that the emissions of the sun over the national territory can turn it into an energetic power based on its use, the development of knowledge and technology.

The National Library was founded on October 18, 1901, in the midst of the official disinterest of the Military Order 234 of the intervening government of the United States, in a small building of the Castillo de la Fuerza, without books, shelves or librarians.

Its vicissitudes without its own building, staff or resources, in pilgrimage through various parts of the city, its collections subjected to humidity, bacteria, and natural disasters, were the result of the abandonment of the country's authorities.

But the laying of the first stone for its construction took place on January 28, 1952, and on June 12, 1957 the building was handed over and since then it has been the headquarters of what is known today as the José Martí National Library of Cuba, in whose deposits the historical memory of the nation is kept.

On February 21, 1958, the inauguration ceremony of its monumental and beautiful building took place.