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Health Clinic Load Calculations

Sample health clinic load calculations.

• Small Health Clinic (<10 kWh/day)
• Medium Health Clinic (10-20 kWh/day)
• Large Health Clinic (20-30 kWh/day)

Patients await treatment at the Bungwe Health Clinic in Rwanda. (Photo: Credit needed)

Small Health Clinic
(low energy requirements, up to 10 kWh/day)

A small health clinic may have the following profile:

• Typically located in a remote setting with limited services and a small staff
• Lights are used during evening hours and to support limited surgical procedures (e.g. suturing)
• One or two refrigerators are used to maintain the cold chain for vaccines, blood, and other medical supplies
• Basic lab equipment such as a centrifuge, hematology mixer, microscope, incubator, and hand-powered aspirator may be used

Medium Health Clinic (moderate energy requirements, 10-20 kWh/day)

A medium health clinic may have the following profile:

• Medical equipment similar to Category I Health Clinic; frequency of use and number of devices are key factors of differentiation between Category I and II health clinics
• Separate refrigerators may be used for food storage and cold chain
• Communication device, such as a radio, may be utilized
• May accommodate more sophisticated diagnostic medical equipment and perform more complex surgical procedures

Large Health Clinic (high energy requirements, 20-30 kWh/day)

A large health clinic may have the following profile:

• May serve as a regional referral center and coordinate communication between several smaller facilities and hospitals in large cities
• May need to communicate with remote health centers and hospitals by way of telephone, fax, computer, and Internet
• May contain sophisticated diagnostic devices (x-ray machine, CD4 counters, blood typing equipment, etc.) requiring additional power

This example is currently under development.