No subject

<br>
<b>"Tip:</b> There are few places that are so consistently cloudy that
solar power is out of the question.".    Well... all our Andes
Mountains (almost as high as the Himalayan....) are those "few
places"...<br>
<br>
Yes... we are talking about solar panels for villages that are at 3,500
meters to 5,000 meters altitude (there are 85,000 towns, cities and
villages in Peru.  80,000 are located in this "high altitude" area.  5
million people lives there.  The other 23 million live in the 5,000
bigger cities, including Lima that host 9 million poeple, that are
located in lower altitudes).  This "high altitude" villages are the
poorest and the ones that are without electricity.  Those children
(that whole population) are forgotten by 2 centuries.<br>
<br>
Sorry to add this: IF you live in Germany then you use solar panels AND
you are connected to the public grid, if you produce enough energy then
you use it for your house (and save energy from the public grid),
furthermore if you have a surplus you sell it to the public company
that is your normal provider.  In our "high altitude" villages, here in
Peru, there is not any public grid or public company.  Solar energy
would be the only source... and if it fails there is no alternative
electricity source, no grid to connect the batteries...<br>
<br>
The article about Germany is based on the reflection of the sun in the
clouds... those must be white clouds (that reflects)... our clouds
comes as black as my sins! (smile)... no reflection... just rain and
rain and rain... 4 to 5 months... sometimes and in some areas 6
months... day after day... week after week...<br>
<br>
anyway... I will pray (for light clouds and because of my dark side!) <span
 class="moz-smiley-s3"><span> ;-) </span></span><br>
<br>
Javier<br>
<br>
<br>
Edward Cherlin wrote:
<blockquote
 cite="mid:e574f6eb0805061755p27419029ydfc90199626045ed at mail.gmail.com"
 type="cite">
  <pre wrap="">On Mon, May 5, 2008 at 11:08 AM, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:info at olpc-peru.info">info at olpc-peru.info</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:info at olpc-peru.info">&lt;info at olpc-peru.info&gt;</a> wrote:
  </pre>
  <blockquote type="cite">
    <pre wrap="">Edward,

 Just for your info (about energy devices).

 I don't know exaclty why (I have many ideas about why! (smile))... but I
think it can be of your interest.

 Javier



Hello Mel and all the people on the peripherals list,

 I have been discussing the issue of energy with other fellow on the OLPC.

 I am honest and I speak directly all the time: I think the solar energy is
not a realistic posibilitie in Peru: there is 100% sunny days in the Andes
JUST 6 months in a whole year.  The worst moments are the 4 to 5 months were
some villages (located over the 3,500 meters altitude) get 100% cloudy time,
very cloudy, huge rainfall.  According to all the investigation that I have
done (I can send to anyone if you are interested) the solar devices can
provide from 5% to 20% IF there is not a sunny day.  That is a BIG problem.
    </pre>
  </blockquote>
  <pre wrap=""><!---->
That certainly does not eliminate solar from consideration entirely.

<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Effects-of-Clouds-on-a-Solar-Panel&id=533893">http://ezinearticles.com/?Effects-of-Clouds-on-a-Solar-Panel&amp;id=533893</a>
"Germany is typically a very cloudy country...In spite of its cloudy
climate, though, Germany is by far the world's biggest user of solar
panels."

Other possibilities are

*Wind
*Water
*Biofuels (ethanol, methane, biodiesel)
*Animal power
*Child power

How are the winds up there in the Andes?

Are villages located on or near mountain streams?

What do the farmers grow at altitude? Potatoes make a good fuel crop.

  </pre>
  <blockquote type="cite">
    <pre wrap=""> My best understanding, based on previous experience when I have work for a
mining company is to build a mechanical device: human driven, leg driven.
But not a bycecle.  We have built it before but it was without "cost"
restrictions.  It is based on a spinning wheel (I have many here at my
sight).  But when I have put "cost" as a variable to take in account then I
have got the next ideas:

 a) Using alternators, in Peru, is expensive.  Each alternator cost US$300
aprox.
 b) We need to import some magnets and assembly the alternator by ourselves.
The kids on the villages can do it as part of the "experience".  We must
provide the alternators, the copper wire, the circuit and components for the
rectifier, and... the battery (battery is other hard issue... short live...
expensive).  Assembly this "home made" alternator, connecting to the
spinning wheel (that can need a double wheel or a "pulley" chain) can be an
improvement (according to the first results that we can get).
 c) Legs are the ones that will be used.  Not in a bycecle but on a spinning
wheel.  It is totally possible generate enough energy for a regular laptor
with the legs, it will be easier for the XOs.  Providing energy for the
XServers is a totally different issue, I don't agree with the use of
XServers.  I suggest that one of the XOs MUST behave as a Server (or the
whole local XO network should behave as a "shared server" sharing processing
power... but that is a bigger task).
 d) Need more energy? Put bigger magnets or "more" copper wire.  Too heavy
to move? Change design: move the copper wire around the magnets.  Too heavy
yet? Use concatenated pulleys.
 e) Cost?: import the magnets from Korea or other asian manufacturer.

 In this moment I don't have the time to develop this pilots (because I work
independently, earning bread and butter for daily living, as anyone, and my
spare time is not good enough to attack the problem in an efficient way).
So I am passing this info to you (and I can discuss and help more if there
is someone interested in develop this prototypes).
    </pre>
  </blockquote>
  <pre wrap=""><!---->
I'll ask Engineers Without Borders and some other organizations.

  </pre>
  <blockquote type="cite">
    <pre wrap=""> If we don't get an asnwer for the energy problem then we will be delivering
(we ARE delivering) XOs to the towns and villages that "look" poor in the
eyes of the occidental culture but we are forgetting
    </pre>
  </blockquote>
  <pre wrap=""><!---->
No, you are forgetting that Nicholas Negroponte made it clear from the
beginning that the villages without electricity were the prime targets
for the XO, and how many people have been working to make it succeed
there.

  </pre>
  <blockquote type="cite">
    <pre wrap="">that in Peru the deep
poverty is located in those 80,000 villages (5 million people) with less
than 100 families in each villages, without electricity, less than FIVE
HUNDRED dollars as total ANNUAL income for the family (with the work of the
father, mother and children from 6 years old).
    </pre>
  </blockquote>
  <pre wrap=""><!---->
 There are other target countries where the annual income is even less.

  </pre>
</blockquote>
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