Posted by Pal on January 25, 2006, 6:08 pm
About 18 months ago, I went as part of a volunteer work party, to one of
the islands in Vanuatu to help repair cyclone damage to a local high school.
Shortly before we arrived, their primary energy source (a diesel
generator) died beyond economic repair. Another group back here in
Australia started a fund raising effort to get them a new gen set, which
resulted in a new one being installed about six months ago.
Problem is, the new one is five or six times the capacity of the old
one, and their diesel costs have skyrocketed.
As the school is primarily for teaching boys carpentry skills (although
they do also have all the general classes one would expect), my
suggestion was that another fund raising effort should target getting a
big compressor, and an air storage tank, and a bunch of air driven tools
for the carpentry workshop, so that their excess electricity generation
currently being wasted in electric heaters so they don't under-load the
generator, can be stored for productive use as required. Maybe the
product of their workshop (furniture or building frames etc.)could even
be sold to the local community to fund the diesel costs.
What other suggestions do you guys have? A friend of mine is the
Director of an Australian overseas aid organisation that has done a lot
of work in Vanuatu, and I'd love to pass onto him the best of your ideas
as well as my own...
By way of background:
The school has ocean on one side and jungle on the other. The entire
island is the result of volcanic activity, and the volcanoe is still
active although quite some distance away (20 miles or so as the crow
flies). The climate is tropical, mostly moderate, with only a few
degrees variation between the wet and dry seasons.
They also have extensive PV lighting that was funded as foreign aid from
the Japaneese government, but most it doesn't work as there is no local
servicing capability, and the nearest capable technician to too
expensive to bring to the island.
The Vanuatu government pays the teacher's wages, but doesn't provide
anything for maintenance or infrastructure costs, all of which the
school has to arrange itself - mostly by foreign donations.
Regards,
Pal
Posted by sno on January 25, 2006, 6:59 pm
Do they have fairly constant wind....waves....??
Any stream close....??
Cannot speak to the compressed air idea....
Do you have any idea of their actual KW usage....??
With battery storage they could run the generator at maximum efficiency
to charge the batteries....and then use them to provide the power when
needed....may be able to run generator few hours each day....
However batteries are expensive...but maybe you could get them
donated....
and you would need controller, etc......
The problem with all locations such as you describe it the maintenance/
upkeep problem....with no one knowledgeable on site, as you mention,
things tend to break down and not be repaired....
thank you for listening to my thoughts....sno
Pal wrote:
>
> About 18 months ago, I went as part of a volunteer work party, to one of
> the islands in Vanuatu to help repair cyclone damage to a local high school.
>
> Shortly before we arrived, their primary energy source (a diesel
> generator) died beyond economic repair. Another group back here in
> Australia started a fund raising effort to get them a new gen set, which
> resulted in a new one being installed about six months ago.
>
> Problem is, the new one is five or six times the capacity of the old
> one, and their diesel costs have skyrocketed.
>
> As the school is primarily for teaching boys carpentry skills (although
> they do also have all the general classes one would expect), my
> suggestion was that another fund raising effort should target getting a
> big compressor, and an air storage tank, and a bunch of air driven tools
> for the carpentry workshop, so that their excess electricity generation
> currently being wasted in electric heaters so they don't under-load the
> generator, can be stored for productive use as required. Maybe the
> product of their workshop (furniture or building frames etc.)could even
> be sold to the local community to fund the diesel costs.
>
> What other suggestions do you guys have? A friend of mine is the
> Director of an Australian overseas aid organisation that has done a lot
> of work in Vanuatu, and I'd love to pass onto him the best of your ideas
> as well as my own...
>
> By way of background:
>
> The school has ocean on one side and jungle on the other. The entire
> island is the result of volcanic activity, and the volcanoe is still
> active although quite some distance away (20 miles or so as the crow
> flies). The climate is tropical, mostly moderate, with only a few
> degrees variation between the wet and dry seasons.
>
> They also have extensive PV lighting that was funded as foreign aid from
> the Japaneese government, but most it doesn't work as there is no local
> servicing capability, and the nearest capable technician to too
> expensive to bring to the island.
>
> The Vanuatu government pays the teacher's wages, but doesn't provide
> anything for maintenance or infrastructure costs, all of which the
> school has to arrange itself - mostly by foreign donations.
>
> Regards,
>
> Pal
--
Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it
This tag line is generated by:
SLTG (Silly Little Tag Generator)
Posted by Pal on January 25, 2006, 8:26 pm
sno wrote:
> Do they have fairly constant wind....waves....??
I only spent a couple of weeks there, but it was fairly calm most of the
time. Obviously, it does get more blowy from time to time, hence the
cyclone damage I was there to repair...
>
> Any stream close....??
No streams...
>
> Cannot speak to the compressed air idea....
My thoughts were focussed on maximising the usefullnes of what they now
have rather than replacing it with an alternative. The school's
(volunteer)maintenance man is trained as a motor mechanic, and so seems
to be quite competent with the diesel gen set. He had repaired the old
one many times, but didn't have the equipment to rewind the armature...
>
> Do you have any idea of their actual KW usage....??
I did have it in my head, but am struggling to remember which cerebral
file I put it in. :) Not large is the basic answer. While I was there,
they were using a small portable generator borrowed from a local church
- I think (may be wrong) it was a 3kW unit(?) at 240v. Their pattern of
use was to run it for a couple of hours after dusk to drive lighting,
predominantly of the fluorescent kind. I'd guestimate they had about 50
38w tubes across the campus. They also ran it during the day when either
the staff wanted to use office equipment (photocopier and/or a
computer), or when the computer class was being run (they had 4 pc's -
around the p3 vintage)
>
> With battery storage they could run the generator at maximum efficiency
> to charge the batteries....and then use them to provide the power when
> needed....may be able to run generator few hours each day....
>
> However batteries are expensive...but maybe you could get them
> donated....
> and you would need controller, etc......
Your point about the batteries being expensive is right on, especially
when you add freight, which is a killer on just about everything in
these remote island communities.
>
> The problem with all locations such as you describe it the maintenance/
> upkeep problem....with no one knowledgeable on site, as you mention,
> things tend to break down and not be repaired....
They do have knowledgable people on site, just not knowledgable in the
more "High Tech" areas like electronics. Also, to the local mind, paying
for maintenance is seen as a salesman's attempted dirty trick. In their
culture, you make something (mostly from bamboo that you get for free
from the jungle), and use it till it breaks, then make another one! Why
would you waste time fixing an old one when you can make a new one with
the same or even less effort?! It's a hard cycle to break.
In part, that's why I wanted to look at low tech energy storage ideas.
They have access to just about enough tech savvy to keep the gen set up
and running (and could probably manage a compressor on the same basis),
but had problems with the fluro lights - most of which only needed tubes
and/or starters which they had in their storeroom! PV is clearly beyond
their skills, and I suspect that battery maintenance wouldn't happen
either. They have carpentry skills in spades, and enough nouse to figure
out just about anything that remains in the realms of that which you can
touch and see.
Whatever is chosen, I think it has to be physical - like compressed air,
or water in a header tank (although the only plentiful water is from the
ocean - full of salt and choral spawn - fresh water is in short supply)
Thanks for taking the time to think about it...
Regards,
Glen
Posted by sno on January 25, 2006, 8:56 pm
With plentiful bamboo...(dried bamboo has about the same btu
content as dried oak)....it might be possible for them to run
something like a steam generator.....rather then diesel....
but do not know of any low power units.....would be inexpensive
to run using bamboo as fuel....and is rather simple tech...your
diesel mech should/would have no problem understanding....
I imagine you showed someone how to replace the tubes and starters
on the fluorescents....do not know if there are any good enough led
lights out their yet that could replace them....their long life could
be an advantage.....and even with high costs their shipping cost would
be low.....and would be an almost one time thing....
thank you for listening to my thoughts.....sno
Pal wrote:
>
> sno wrote:
> > Do they have fairly constant wind....waves....??
>
> I only spent a couple of weeks there, but it was fairly calm most of the
> time. Obviously, it does get more blowy from time to time, hence the
> cyclone damage I was there to repair...
> >
> > Any stream close....??
>
> No streams...
> >
> > Cannot speak to the compressed air idea....
> My thoughts were focussed on maximising the usefullnes of what they now
> have rather than replacing it with an alternative. The school's
> (volunteer)maintenance man is trained as a motor mechanic, and so seems
> to be quite competent with the diesel gen set. He had repaired the old
> one many times, but didn't have the equipment to rewind the armature...
>
> >
> > Do you have any idea of their actual KW usage....??
> I did have it in my head, but am struggling to remember which cerebral
> file I put it in. :) Not large is the basic answer. While I was there,
> they were using a small portable generator borrowed from a local church
> - I think (may be wrong) it was a 3kW unit(?) at 240v. Their pattern of
> use was to run it for a couple of hours after dusk to drive lighting,
> predominantly of the fluorescent kind. I'd guestimate they had about 50
> 38w tubes across the campus. They also ran it during the day when either
> the staff wanted to use office equipment (photocopier and/or a
> computer), or when the computer class was being run (they had 4 pc's -
> around the p3 vintage)
>
> >
> > With battery storage they could run the generator at maximum efficiency
> > to charge the batteries....and then use them to provide the power when
> > needed....may be able to run generator few hours each day....
> >
> > However batteries are expensive...but maybe you could get them
> > donated....
> > and you would need controller, etc......
> Your point about the batteries being expensive is right on, especially
> when you add freight, which is a killer on just about everything in
> these remote island communities.
>
> >
> > The problem with all locations such as you describe it the maintenance/
> > upkeep problem....with no one knowledgeable on site, as you mention,
> > things tend to break down and not be repaired....
>
> They do have knowledgable people on site, just not knowledgable in the
> more "High Tech" areas like electronics. Also, to the local mind, paying
> for maintenance is seen as a salesman's attempted dirty trick. In their
> culture, you make something (mostly from bamboo that you get for free
> from the jungle), and use it till it breaks, then make another one! Why
> would you waste time fixing an old one when you can make a new one with
> the same or even less effort?! It's a hard cycle to break.
>
> In part, that's why I wanted to look at low tech energy storage ideas.
>
> They have access to just about enough tech savvy to keep the gen set up
> and running (and could probably manage a compressor on the same basis),
> but had problems with the fluro lights - most of which only needed tubes
> and/or starters which they had in their storeroom! PV is clearly beyond
> their skills, and I suspect that battery maintenance wouldn't happen
> either. They have carpentry skills in spades, and enough nouse to figure
> out just about anything that remains in the realms of that which you can
> touch and see.
>
> Whatever is chosen, I think it has to be physical - like compressed air,
> or water in a header tank (although the only plentiful water is from the
> ocean - full of salt and choral spawn - fresh water is in short supply)
>
> Thanks for taking the time to think about it...
>
> Regards,
>
> Glen
--
Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it
This tag line is generated by:
SLTG (Silly Little Tag Generator)
Posted by meow2222 on January 27, 2006, 4:10 pm
Pal wrote:
> sno wrote:
> > Do they have fairly constant wind....waves....??
> I only spent a couple of weeks there, but it was fairly calm most of the
> time. Obviously, it does get more blowy from time to time, hence the
> cyclone damage I was there to repair...
> >
> > Any stream close....??
> No streams...
> >
> > Cannot speak to the compressed air idea....
> My thoughts were focussed on maximising the usefullnes of what they now
> have rather than replacing it with an alternative. The school's
> (volunteer)maintenance man is trained as a motor mechanic, and so seems
> to be quite competent with the diesel gen set. He had repaired the old
> one many times, but didn't have the equipment to rewind the armature...
> >
> > Do you have any idea of their actual KW usage....??
> I did have it in my head, but am struggling to remember which cerebral
> file I put it in. :) Not large is the basic answer. While I was there,
> they were using a small portable generator borrowed from a local church
> - I think (may be wrong) it was a 3kW unit(?) at 240v. Their pattern of
> use was to run it for a couple of hours after dusk to drive lighting,
> predominantly of the fluorescent kind. I'd guestimate they had about 50
> 38w tubes across the campus. They also ran it during the day when either
> the staff wanted to use office equipment (photocopier and/or a
> computer), or when the computer class was being run (they had 4 pc's -
> around the p3 vintage)
> >
> > With battery storage they could run the generator at maximum efficiency
> > to charge the batteries....and then use them to provide the power when
> > needed....may be able to run generator few hours each day....
> >
> > However batteries are expensive...but maybe you could get them
> > donated....
> > and you would need controller, etc......
> Your point about the batteries being expensive is right on, especially
> when you add freight, which is a killer on just about everything in
> these remote island communities.
> >
> > The problem with all locations such as you describe it the maintenance/
> > upkeep problem....with no one knowledgeable on site, as you mention,
> > things tend to break down and not be repaired....
> They do have knowledgable people on site, just not knowledgable in the
> more "High Tech" areas like electronics. Also, to the local mind, paying
> for maintenance is seen as a salesman's attempted dirty trick. In their
> culture, you make something (mostly from bamboo that you get for free
> from the jungle), and use it till it breaks, then make another one! Why
> would you waste time fixing an old one when you can make a new one with
> the same or even less effort?! It's a hard cycle to break.
> In part, that's why I wanted to look at low tech energy storage ideas.
> They have access to just about enough tech savvy to keep the gen set up
> and running (and could probably manage a compressor on the same basis),
> but had problems with the fluro lights - most of which only needed tubes
> and/or starters which they had in their storeroom! PV is clearly beyond
> their skills, and I suspect that battery maintenance wouldn't happen
> either. They have carpentry skills in spades, and enough nouse to figure
> out just about anything that remains in the realms of that which you can
> touch and see.
> Whatever is chosen, I think it has to be physical - like compressed air,
> or water in a header tank (although the only plentiful water is from the
> ocean - full of salt and choral spawn - fresh water is in short supply)
> Thanks for taking the time to think about it...
> Regards,
> Glen
When mechanical power is needed rather than electrical, eg for small
fixed saws, a shape I dont know how to describe can be used to collect
lots of seawater high up, eg in a container on a rope. Movement needs
to be geared. If something along these lines proved to be workable,
this is something that could be made locally and need no fuel to run.
NT
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> About 18 months ago, I went as part of a volunteer work party, to one of
> the islands in Vanuatu to help repair cyclone damage to a local high school.
>
> Shortly before we arrived, their primary energy source (a diesel
> generator) died beyond economic repair. Another group back here in
> Australia started a fund raising effort to get them a new gen set, which
> resulted in a new one being installed about six months ago.
>
> Problem is, the new one is five or six times the capacity of the old
> one, and their diesel costs have skyrocketed.
>
> As the school is primarily for teaching boys carpentry skills (although
> they do also have all the general classes one would expect), my
> suggestion was that another fund raising effort should target getting a
> big compressor, and an air storage tank, and a bunch of air driven tools
> for the carpentry workshop, so that their excess electricity generation
> currently being wasted in electric heaters so they don't under-load the
> generator, can be stored for productive use as required. Maybe the
> product of their workshop (furniture or building frames etc.)could even
> be sold to the local community to fund the diesel costs.
>
> What other suggestions do you guys have? A friend of mine is the
> Director of an Australian overseas aid organisation that has done a lot
> of work in Vanuatu, and I'd love to pass onto him the best of your ideas
> as well as my own...
>
> By way of background:
>
> The school has ocean on one side and jungle on the other. The entire
> island is the result of volcanic activity, and the volcanoe is still
> active although quite some distance away (20 miles or so as the crow
> flies). The climate is tropical, mostly moderate, with only a few
> degrees variation between the wet and dry seasons.
>
> They also have extensive PV lighting that was funded as foreign aid from
> the Japaneese government, but most it doesn't work as there is no local
> servicing capability, and the nearest capable technician to too
> expensive to bring to the island.
>
> The Vanuatu government pays the teacher's wages, but doesn't provide
> anything for maintenance or infrastructure costs, all of which the
> school has to arrange itself - mostly by foreign donations.
>
> Regards,
>
> Pal
--