Solar Power Solution for Kokobe Primary School

Happily, we've found an alternative solution to the problem of getting electricity at Kokobe Primary School that both fits our budget and meets the charging needs of the laptops.

Thanks to information and a referral from Richard Smith of OLPC, we have ordered 50 portable solar panels from GoldPeak Industries International in Hong Kong.  The panels are specifically designed to work with the older XO-1 laptops that we use in Lesotho.  Each panel charges one laptop.  They are 15V 14W with an 18V limiter, are flexible and tough, and cost just $35 each!!!

GPI has promised to manufacture and ship them to Lesotho no later than December 24th.  We'll have to pay air freight charges to get them in time for our January deployment, but given the extremely low cost of the panels themselves, we can cover the extra shipping charges.  GPI is working with DHL in Hong Kong, and I am working with DHL in Lesotho to make the shipping arrangements, so hopefully everything will go smoothly.

Once in Kokobe, the panels will be placed on the ground outside the classrooms and wires run into the classrooms to run and charge the laptops.  The only other country to use this system in Papua-New Guinea.  Here's a picture from their website showing the panels in use:

One huge advantage of using this system is that the solar panels are portable and can be taken home with a laptop, so children can use them on their own after school and on weekends.

PNG uses special wires called DC Shares that allow them to connect 4 panels via one wire to 4 laptops inside.  This helps control the tangle of wires.  Unfortunately, the DC Shares are not available unless ordered in very large quantities.  So, we are looking for ways to jerry-rig a similar system.  Unfortunately, the XO laptop and panels use a plug & jack that are non-standard and not available to us.  So, we will have to find a different solution.

A big BIG thank you to all of you who have helped me work through this last-minute problem, including Richard Smith, David Leeming, Bruce Baikie, Alex Kreider Chris Leonard, Tony Anderson, and George Hunt for their technical advice and knowledge of sources of equipment, Dyann Van Dusen and Richard Rowan of Friends of Lesotho and our anonymous donor for their flexibility in funding our solar power needs, Jennifer Lynden and Carrol of iLoveMyXO.com for their patience and assistance, our Project Leader Matlabe Teba for handling negotiations and arrangements in Lesotho, Richard Yu and Miu Ip of GPI International for arranging the rush production, and our Directors Sarah Gardner and Sherrie Howey for their guidance in resolving this issue. 

This was truly a team effort and yet another wonderful example of the power of the internet in empowering people all over the world to work together.

- Janissa


 

Problems Getting Solar Power Installed Before Next Deployment

I would first like to thank all the OLPC Community Support Volunteers who shared their expertise and help determining the best system for our needs, with a very special thank you to Richard Smith, Alex Kleider, and Chris Leonard. I'd also like to thank David Leeming for his assistance.

We've run into problems getting a solar-powered electrical system installed at Kokobe Primary School, the site of our next deployment in January 2013.  The problem arose just last month with the installer, Bethel BCDC, and he has put us in a bind both time-wise and financially.

Right now, we are faced with some unpleasant conditions:

• The installer may not be willing or able to install the system before deployment.
• The cost of the recommended system far exceeds our current funding.

We have a few, less than ideal options:

1. We could postpone deployment.
• This would delay deployment until we have the money to pay for the system (probably a year from now).
• This could be devastating to our organization.  We have a number of volunteers who have already bought plane tickets to Lesotho for January (average price $2100).They would suffer significant financial loss if we have to postpone.
2. We could risk taking out a loan to cover the cost. 
• This assumes the installer can and will install they system before January, which is seeming less and less likely.
• We would have to alter our Articles of Incorporation to allow for taking out a loan.
• We would have to hope donors will contribute to pay off the loan.
3. We could temporarily borrow a small gas generator and 10 portable individual-laptop solar chargers from Nohana Primary School.
• Charging with this set-up would be difficult and time-consuming, but we could charge some of the laptops during deployment and training. 
• Because getting gas to the site is extremely difficult, this option would leave the school in a very difficult situation until a permanent solution is found.
4. We could buy 20-30 portable solar chargers that the supplier, ilovemyXO, currently has in stock. 
• These are a newer version that has not been fully tested with XO-1 laptops, and there is some uncertainty whether they will work with the laptops we are deploying.
• Even if we go this route, we would have too few chargers for the full 50 laptops that will be deployed at Kokobe in January. 
• If we also borrow the 10 panels from Nohana, that would allow us to charge up to 40 laptops at a time. We could supplement this temporarily with Nohana's gas generator.
• For the long run, there is no stored power to fall back on, when it is too cloudy or raining, like there is with the system using permanent solar panels and batteries.

We are leaning toward the last option.  It is the most affordable and the most likely to be ready in time for the upcoming deployment.  It has some serious drawbacks though:

•  It is a bit of a gamble because the panels may not work well with the laptops we have.
• It will take much more effort on a daily basis on the part of the teachers and students.
• The portable panels will pose more of a temptation to steal.
• We will still have to find 20 more panels after deployment and find a way to get them to Kokobe. 
• Our funders donated their money to install the permanent system.  Hopefully, given the circumstances, they will be willing to alter our agreements to fund the potable chargers instead.

I'll keep you posted.

- Janissa

Kokobe Electrical System Installation Estimate Goes Up 250%

I'm running into some difficulties getting the electrical system at Kokobe Primary School installed. 

In March, we received a quote of about M40,000 (US$ 4,800) from Ivan Yaholnitsky, of Bethel Business & Community Development Center (BCDC), for installation of a solar-powered electrical system at Kokobe Primary School.  The system would power 50 XO-1 laptops, a network server, and a printer.  It would consist of:

4 - 80 watt PV panels

2 - 260 Ah batteries

1 - 20 A regulator 24 volt

1 - 1200 Watt 24 Volt Victron Inverter

Wiring of classroom plugs, lights

1 -Distribution board and earthing Travel & installation

Last week, we received a revised quote of  nearly M101,000 (just over US$ 12,000), an increase of 250%.  Yikes! 

We were hoping to get the system installed in the next couple months so it would be ready when we deliver the laptops in January. But I had based my grant proposals and fundraising on the March estimate, so we are now well short of the necessary funds.

Granted, the new estimate is for a MUCH larger system (see below), but we didn't request that.  When I asked Ivan if we could install the original plan instead, he snipped that I should go to someone else.  However, finding someone else, especially on somewhat short notice, who will work in the remote Ketane area may be very difficult.

At this point, I'm not sure what is going to happen.

- Janissa


October proposed system:

Wiring of Classroom Block

4 - PV Panels  140 watt

4 - Batteries 260 Ah

Victron Inverter 3KW

Regulator 40-60 Ah

120 amp DC isolator/breaker

2 - 60 amp DC isolator/breaker

PV Junction Box

4 - 120 amp copper cabling

18 - 40 amp copper cabling

Panel box for isolator/breakers

Battery case/stack

2 - Lightening Protection

Earthing kit for modules

Consumables

Transportation

Array frame and mounting

Customs clearance of equip

 

Local Project Leader Meets with Foundation Representative

Project Leader Matlabe Teba met with the representative of one of our major funders (who prefers to remain anonymous) on Tuesday in Mohale's Hoek, Lesotho, to discuss the status of the project and a possible grant proposal for expanding the solar electricity at Nohana Primary School.  This expansion is needed for the 50 Dell laptops donated by Pueblo West High School in Colorado.

They also met with Ivan Yaholnitsky, of Bethel Business & Community Development Center, who installed the solar power at Nohana Primary School in 2011, to discuss details and costs of the electrical system.  His estimate for this system expansion is M108,000 (about $12,500).

I haven't heard any details yet, but from Matlabe's email, it sounds like the meeting went very well, and the foundation representative is interested in the grant proposal.

- Janissa