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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 25, 2010 15:35:47 GMT
Some of them are changing lives in Kenya -- As small-scale renewable energy becomes cheaper, more reliable and more efficient, it is providing the first drops of modern power to people who live far from slow-growing electricity grids and fuel pipelines in developing countries. Although dwarfed by the big renewable energy projects that many industrialized countries are embracing to rein in greenhouse gas emissions, these tiny systems are playing an epic, transformative role.
Since Ms. Ruto hooked up the system [in her home in a farming village in Kenya], her teenagers’ grades have improved because they have light for studying. The toddlers no longer risk burns from the smoky kerosene lamp. And each month, she saves $15 in kerosene and battery costs — and the $20 she used to spend on travel.
In fact, neighbors now pay her 20 cents to charge their phones, although that business may soon evaporate: 63 families in [her village] have recently installed their own solar power systems. Click on the text to read the full article. It spells out how people's lives are changed by this basic technology, but also the problems of supply, help from agencies, etc.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2010 15:07:40 GMT
There was a big tax credit on people equipping themselves with solar power in France, but it was too successful, so it is being mostly cancelled for 2011.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 5, 2011 16:30:43 GMT
Seriously? You mean it was so successful that the power companies weren't making enough money?
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Post by onlymark on Jan 5, 2011 17:40:02 GMT
I seem to think there were incentives in Spain as well that have now been stopped.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2011 4:17:30 GMT
solar power vic panels have proved to be an efficient method to reduce your home electricity bill. By doing so, you can save a lot of your hard-earned money. How is it possible? We know that daylight is the sole need to generate Solar Energy. This light is picked up and processed by solar system to create electricity for your needs. This electricity is employed by you at your home. Solar electricity generation doesn't produce any harmful by products and this makes it stand out from other power sources like ordinary fuels and nuclear plants. This is a superb contribution towards the nature by every one of us using renewable sources of energy. Installing a solar power vic system at home might be a bit costly, but all of the initial costs can be recovered by the savings you make with the solar power panels in the long run. Use of solar energy panels decreases your monthly electricity bill and increases your share in saving the environment. Make use of the sun’s energy to generate solar energy and electricity as it is available in abundance. This is an exceedingly efficient way to help our surroundings; therefore we should make this change from today. This option is really cheap and doesn't make any harm to our world. If purchasing a solar power system is a costly process, you can even do it yourself. There are numerous guides that are available in the internet to help you in building solar systems. Its pretty easy. All you have to do is follow the guidelines properly.
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Post by lagatta on Jul 26, 2016 14:23:01 GMT
Anyone been following the Solar plane project? Here is the website: www.solarimpulse.com/On my computer, it shows up mostly in French, but I expect that those who have their default language in English will view it in English. If not, at the foot of the homepage, you can click to view the site in several languages.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2016 20:02:34 GMT
It took more than a year and there is little hope of ever creating a solar passenger plane, but enormous progress has been made in solar panels, which is good news for everybody. The new ones weigh almost nothing and are also flexible, so they can wrap around curved objects.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 28, 2016 15:00:39 GMT
Many years ago, when solar power wasn't even generally talked about, there was an article in National Geographic about a farm family in the US who'd converted to wind power. What struck me was that there were small dedicated windmills for such things as the sewing machine. What I'd like to know is if there are small, affordable solar panels that could be used only for the refrigerator, for instance.
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Post by onlyMark on Jul 28, 2016 16:00:14 GMT
There are small affordable solar panels but not usually affordable solar powered refrigerators. We have a normal fridge but it is rated A+++ and run it from our normal house solar system. To purely have just a system where you have a panel or two and a fridge is possible but a lot depends on the power needed for the fridge. Plus, you probably, off the top of my head, need some form of battery and a control box. It would all need working out as to match up the fridge with the panels and the battery/control box. Obviously it's no good having a fridge if you don't then have the power to run it. Anyway, fridges for example - "These incredibly efficient solar powered or battery powered refrigerators and freezers can be powered by one or two solar panels (100 - 200 watts) and a small deep cycle battery bank. If you're planning to live off of the electric grid, purchasing an efficient solar powered refrigerator is probably one of the most cost savings investments you can make." www.altestore.com/store/refrigerators-freezers/solar-powered-refrigerators-freezers-c639/www.sundanzer.com/product_category/household/
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Post by mossie on Jul 28, 2016 19:23:31 GMT
Google doesn't help me. When I was in Egypt we used solar powered refrigerators called "chattis" which I think is an Indian word taken up by English servicemen. The principle dated back very many years. A chatti was simply an unglazed earthenware vessel with a narrow neck. This was filled with water and was suspended on a string in the sun, water seeped through the sides and was evaporated by the sun. This evaporation cooled the remaining water so one had a nice cold drink ready in an hour or so.
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Post by questa on Jul 28, 2016 23:09:33 GMT
The same principle is used for the Aussie waterbag and the Coolgardie safe. The bag was made of thick canvas on a wire frame with a stoppered spout on top. Filled with water and hung in the shade, the bag allowed water to seep through the canvas and evaporate slowly thus providing cool water for drinking. It was rare to see a vehicle in the outback without a couple of water bags on the front roo bars. Now superseded by the polyurethane water carrier.
The Coolgardie safe was box made of thin metal mesh which hung from the roof. The perishable foods were placed inside and the box was covered with wet cloths. The hanging chain had ant and vermin traps and the safe could be padlocked with only the cook having the key.
Similar to Mossie's chatti, the Indonesian version has the fine clay jug immersed in a tub of water, maybe of dubious quality. As the empty jug fills through its pores, it filters the water and cools it. This is still used today where there is no treated water supply.
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Post by onlyMark on Jul 29, 2016 7:39:46 GMT
mossie, I think a chatti or something along those lines is in India a pot used for cooking. Often a big one so it would seem natural for the word to end up in Egypt and referring to any big pot. There are still these water 'stations' along many of the roads in Egypt, especially in the rural area. I don't know for sure in Arabic what the pots would be called but I do believe they are called 'zeer'. In Spain called 'botijo'. I do remember having to stop a western girl from using one to wash with. She had a bar of soap and was dipping her hands into the water and splashing it on her face. For bixa though there is always the basic simple version of a refrigerator using these zeer pots - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pot-in-pot_refrigeratorAnd if you want to make one here are instructions - www.instructables.com/id/A-Practical-Zeer-Pot-evaporative-cooler-non-electr/
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Post by mossie on Jul 29, 2016 15:04:45 GMT
Thanks Mark, my Egyptian was confined to very primitive words, many of which had come down through military usage and often originating from India. That at least explains why I couldn't find anything on Google
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Post by onlyMark on Jul 29, 2016 21:43:06 GMT
A large proportion of the English language would be wiped out if we didn't have words originating in the Forces or from India. Or corruptions of Arabic words as well.
Further to my above and still off topic, but I'll stop now, I've had a bit better look as regards a 'chatti' and found it is a common word in a number of Indian languages and just means a 'vessel'. Apparently it can be of other materials than pot/clay and can be metal/cast iron. A cheena chatti is similar to a deep sided wok and looks very similar to what mossie might know if he ventures north as a 'Balti', which refers to the meal as well as the serving and cooking dish. Cheena chattis did ring a bell with me, and that's why the long answer, because it is a traditional cooking vessel from where I was earlier this year, Kerala, India.
So, I sound clever but I just know where to look and follow the dots.
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Post by lagatta on Jul 30, 2016 0:40:09 GMT
That was wonderful. And yes, a huge number of words and expressions on all levels of language come from the military - for one thing because it was one of the main places, along with the public school - for the emergence of "national" languages, and because quick understanding was a matter of life or death.
I do suppose that the cookware known as baltis are made somewhere in South Asia, not in Birmingham!
And yes, a lot of these modern innovations also build on ancient technologies.
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Post by tod2 on Nov 21, 2020 7:33:01 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 21, 2020 8:35:15 GMT
That is great, tod! Will the panels provide enough power for the whole building?
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Post by onlyMark on Nov 21, 2020 9:22:10 GMT
Excellent, Tod. Obviously I'm very interested and I think you've mentioned about solar power before. I do have questions but for now, are the two black boxes lithium batteries or some controller for them? I think it says something like that on them.
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Post by tod2 on Nov 21, 2020 9:34:25 GMT
Kerouac - Yes it will operate the lights and tills, but the geysers for hot water must be switched off. Can't use a laser printer or anything that draws a lot of current for a longish period. A kettle and microwave are OK.
Mark, yes they are indeed Lithium batteries - Pylon Tech 3,000. But, these two batteries would not be sufficient to operate the entire 500 sqm downstairs and the same upstairs. Downstairs draws 5,000 watts of electricity , lights only, and upstairs has not been connected as yet. We only need power during the day being a retail shop. Our 8KVA Hybrid Inverter is a "Time of Use" inverter. That means we convert the DC current directly to AC current without the use of the batteries which should charge during the day and they will be used at night for the CCTV, Alarm and exterior LED floodlights.. If it's cloudy during day and not generating enough power the system will automatically switch over to utility for a bit of help.
I'm sorry no photos were taken of the way the panels were hoisted onto the roof. We got our upholstery man to fashion a large 'shopping bag' out of Ripstop Canvas. They placed one panel at a time in it and hauled it up by rope. I might get photos from the installer as he was super impressed by our. " invention".
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Post by onlyMark on Nov 21, 2020 11:13:31 GMT
I think I get it then. The batteries are to be used to supply electric for night time security. During the day the system will draw directly off the DC output of the solar panels, convert that to AC to power 'stuff' but if there isn't enough power being generated by the panels when needed it'll get help from the mains to make up the shortfall. Considering batteries are hellishly expensive and to get enough to completely power your place for more than even just a few minutes would be the same cost as the GDP of a small country, it seems a good option.
I sound as though I know what I'm talking about, but I've practiced doing that for years. Are the panels about 250W?
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 21, 2020 11:51:34 GMT
I think in France there is some sort of rule/deal about automatically selling excess production to the power company, since nearly everyone is connected to the power grid anyway. At least it is not confiscation, since one is compensated for it.
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Post by onlyMark on Nov 21, 2020 12:59:41 GMT
It used to be in Spain you could "back feed" into the grid and your meter would run backwards until there came a point where it went back past zero and then the electric company would be paying you. Don't think you can do that now though. Or was that in the UK? Can't remember.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 21, 2020 13:43:04 GMT
Thanks for showing this, Tod -- extremely interesting! How are the number of panels determined?
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Post by tod2 on Nov 21, 2020 15:23:11 GMT
Are the panels about 250W? No Peter says, they are 400W and there are 24 of them.
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Post by tod2 on Nov 21, 2020 15:24:22 GMT
Thanks for showing this, Tod -- extremely interesting! How are the number of panels determined? They are determined by the capacity of the Inverter.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 21, 2020 16:06:25 GMT
They are determined by the capacity of the Inverter. says Tod to the person who has never understood electricity.
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Post by onlyMark on Nov 21, 2020 16:15:10 GMT
It's not called electrickery for nothing.
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Post by bjd on Nov 21, 2020 17:36:46 GMT
I think in France there is some sort of rule/deal about automatically selling excess production to the power company, since nearly everyone is connected to the power grid anyway. At least it is not confiscation, since one is compensated for it. There are different systems. I think before you had to sell everything you produced with solar panels on your roof to the electricity provider and you got paid for it. In principle it is injected into the grid near your house. This is the system my son has but it was already on the house when he bought it so it's at least 5 or 6 years old. But about 2 months ago, our neighbour here had a system installed on his roof that feeds directly into his house. I'll have to ask him how well it works. We looked at his information brochure but the only roof in our house that faces the right way already has solar panels to produce hot water, so there is no room for anything else.
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Post by tod2 on Nov 22, 2020 6:42:14 GMT
As things stand at the moment we do not have to have planning permission to install solar panels - but in Cape Town and other cities, you do need permission. Also, I believe Cape Town can feed excess electricity back to the grid, but not here in Pietermaritzburg. Not yet anyway. Each city has it's own municipality with their own ideas.
We have a small solar system at the AirBnB which allows lights and TV to stay on but not the wall plugs. At least guests are not left in the pitch dark during one of our power-outages. Lately we have had 4 days of intermittent power to many traffic lights, buildings (including our shop). It plays havoc with the security system, triggering alarms and when the alarm battery runs out there is no security. Roll on Solar!!
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Post by tod2 on Dec 12, 2020 8:44:12 GMT
Unbeknown to me the "bag"was left behind so that when the new replacement panel (for the hail damaged panel) arrived, it could quickly be lifted into place. Here is how it was done:
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