Solar Power
EFACAP School in Lascahobas, Haiti
Submitted by IanKnox on Tue, 01/24/2012 - 16:28Description
Green Wifi partnered with teams from Illinois Institute of Technology and Inveneo to bring solar-powered Internet connectivity to the EFACAP school in Lascahobas, Haiti. Thanks in large part to funding from an Internet Society Community grant, this team came together at the EFACAP school on December 13 & 14 to establish both a long distance Internet link to the school, and then point-to-multipoint wifi hotspots across the campus.
The backbone tower in Lascahobas, to which the EFACAP school is connected, is one of many set up across the country as part of the Inveneo-led Rural Broadband Initiative to form a high-speed wireless backbone across Haiti. This initiative’s objective is to bring affordable, reliable and sustainable broadband access to 6 regions and 20 un-served population centers across Haiti.
Once the long-distance link was established, the team worked together to establish multiple solar-powered wifi hotspots across the school’s campus. As part of their BATI program, Inveneo is training and certifying Haitian technicians from regions across the country in Internet connectivity setup and related small-business skills. The EFACAP school Internet installation was used as a hands-on training session for five BATI technicians. After connectivity was established, the IIT team met with the school’s teachers, only two of whom had ever used the Internet before, to instruct them in how to get online, use search tools and a server, and finally, to set up email addresses!
Project
Green Wifi with IIT students bringing solar-powered Internet connectivity to the EFACAP school in Lascahobas, Haiti.
1. Solar powered charging for 400 OLPC laptops
2. Solar powered internet access
3. University student mentoring project (ITT)
Technology
Files
Inveneo Solar Power Deployment Guide to Building Truly Practical PV Systems for ICT Projects
Many people believe that solar power is too expensive to use for powering computer installations in remote or rural areas that are without a connection to the AC grid. However, there have been two recent developments that have significantly lowered the cost of solar.
- The power consumption requirement of low-cost computers and peripherals has come down considerably.
- The cost of solar panels has dropped dramatically, with some panels selling in the US for as much at 70% less than typical 2008 prices.
If you are thinking about deploying computers in remote rural locations or in countries with erratic grid power, the cost of reliable, long-term, low-maintenance power has never been lower.
Inveneo Solar Power Deployment Guide
The Inveneo Solar Power Deployment Guide will show you how to specify, design and build your own small-scale self-contained solar power system. The guide’s purpose is not to make you a world-class expert on solar technology. Rather, we will take a "hands-on" approach, emphasizing a step-by-step method to designing and building truly practical solar systems.
As there are a large number of "tricks of the trade" involved when installing a solar system, we do not usually recommend a do-it-yourself approach for beginners. It is better to work with an experienced solar installer, especially if you have never worked with solar or other power systems before.
After reading this guide, you should be able to estimate the size, level of complexity and cost of small to medium- sized PC installations, and you will understand the basic theory and practice. This guide is focused on completely battery-operated PC and network installations. It does not discuss battery backup systems for generator- or AC- grid-powered locations.
More Information
If you would like to read a high-level summary on the viability and usefulness of solar power systems, you can refer to the Intel Corporation paper, "Solar Power for PC Deployments: Enabling ICT Beyond the Grid". We have also developed a list of Solar Power Resources for Designing PV Systems in Rural Computer Projects
Wayan Vota
InveneoWayan Vota is a technology expert focused on appropriate information and communication technologies (ICT) for rural and underserved areas of the developing world. He is a Senior Director at Inveneo and is the editor of ICTworks
Solar Power for PC Deployments: Enabling ICT Beyond the Grid
Technology for converting solar energy to electricity was first introduced over 130 years ago, and it has been used to power PCs for more than 20 years. However, until recently it has been prohibitively expensive to use solar energy to power PCs in areas where the electric grid is not available. Energy-hungry PCs simply put too much demand on the limited generation capabilities of the solar panels.
A few years ago, a typical desktop PC using a processor such as the Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 2.8Ghz supporting Hyper-Threading technology consumed about 80W to 100W. A 15" CRT monitor consumed an additional 70W to 100W, so a complete PC desktop system used 150W to 200W.
By comparison, a modern netbook based on an Intel® Atom processor with a 10” screen consumes just 12W to 15W total. A laptop using an Intel® Celeron® M ultra low voltage (ULV) processor with a larger 13" wide screen display can consume as little as 20W to 25W. New power-efficient desktop designs offer similar improvements.
The Inveneo Computing Station, for example, is based on the Intel® Atom™ processor D410 and consumes about 15W. Coupled with the Inveneo energy efficient LCD display, the entire system consumes only about 22W. Thus, a modern PC can provide a rich experience while consuming 90% less power of a typical desktop system of just a few years ago.
Yet even as computers have become much more energy efficient in recent years, many people still perceive solar energy as being too expensive for PC deployments. In this paper we will explain the technological changes that have made solar power cost feasible for PC deployments, and provide an overview of how to design for a solar powered PC deployment.
The objective of Solar Power for PC Deployments: Enabling ICT Beyond the Grid is not to replace the need for an experienced solar installer; rather, it is to provide basic knowledge to help the reader prepare a budget for a solar deployment, and to be able to effectively communicate the requirements to an installer.
More Information
The Inveneo Solar Power Deployment Guide is a how-to guide to specify, design and build a small-scale self-contained solar power system, emphasizing a "hands-on" approach with step-by-step methods to designing and building truly practical solar systems. We have also developed a list of Solar Power Resources for Designing PV Systems in Rural Computer Projects.
Guest Writer
This Guest Post is a ICTworks community knowledge-sharing effort. We actively search for and re-publish quality ICT-related posts we find online. Please follow the link above to read the original article. If you'd like to suggest a post (even your own), please email wayan at inveneo dot org
Samsung Solar Powered Laptop: More ICT4D Hardware Hype
While I am debunking iPhone Lite hype, I might as well give my opinion on the new Samsung NC215S, which is marketed as a "solar powered laptop". Liliputing says:
Samsung has confirmed that it will offer a solar-powered netbook in the US as well as Africa and Russia. The Samsung NC215S will be available in the US the week of July 3rd with a suggested retail price of $399.
The US model features a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel matte display, 1GB of RAM, and a 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N570 dual core processor. The key feature that sets this netbook apart from the crowd though are the solar cells built into the lid.
Samsung says you should be able to get an hour of battery life for every two hours of charging time. Under ideal conditions Samsung says you should also be able to squeeze about 14 hours of battery life out of the netbook, but my guess is that day to day performance will be a little lower than that.
The press release says that the NC215S comes with a USB-port Sleep-and-Charge which can charge portable devices even if the computer is in sleep mode or turned off, and even if the battery is depleted, by using the solar panel.
Now solar powered gadget ideas are many, from laptop bags to mobile phones to all manner of electronics all with photovoltaics integrated into the device. Yet none have really caught on so far as external solar power sources are much more common and easier to manage in off-grid locations.
I don't think the Samsung NC215S will be any different. I can't see someone who is wealthy enough to buy a laptop wanting to leave it out in the sun for 2-3 hours during the workday to recharge. In rural areas, it would be better to buy a Classamte PC and get ruggedness that can be recharged by a solar entrepreneur with real solar power resources.
Wayan Vota
InveneoWayan Vota is a technology expert focused on appropriate information and communication technologies (ICT) for rural and underserved areas of the developing world. He is a Senior Director at Inveneo and is the editor of ICTworks
Solar Power Resources for Designing PV Systems in Rural Computer Projects
There are two recent developments that have significantly lowered the cost of solar power systems for powering computer installations in remote or rural areas:
- The power consumption requirement of low-cost computers and peripherals has come down considerably.
- The cost of solar panels has dropped dramatically, with some panels selling in the US for as much at 70% less than typical 2008 prices.
If you are thinking about deploying computers in remote rural locations or in countries with erratic grid power, the cost of reliable, long-term, low-maintenance power has never been lower. To help you, we have developed these solar power resources ICT projects:
White Papers and How-to Guides:
- Solar Power for PC Deployments: Enabling ICT Beyond the Grid provides basic knowledge to help the reader prepare a budget for a solar deployment, and to be able to effectively communicate the requirements to an installer.
- Inveneo Solar Power Deployment Guide is a how-to guide to specify, design and build a small-scale self-contained solar power system, emphasizing a "hands-on" approach with step-by-step methods to designing and building truly practical solar systems.
- Off-Grid Solar Power Solutions Webinar is an interactive discussion of solar power options with Bernd Nordhausen of Intel and Bob Marsh of Inveneo that combines the two resources listed above
Insolation Maps:
Planet Earth
Central & North Africa
North-West Africa
North-East Africa
Southern Africa
Northern part of South America
Southern part of South America
Central America & Caribbean
All of Africa, insolation in kW/m2/day
Miscellaneous technical information:
Ohm's Law and Power tutorial
Grounding/Earthing#1
Grounding/Earthing#2
Batteries, how to estimate state of charge
Wire size tables for different system voltages
Power consumption of typical appliances and equipment (use with caution)
Sample Solar Panel data sheets:
Sunwize 130W poly-crystalline
Sharp 80W poly-crystalline
Sharp 115W-128W thin-film panels
SolarWorld 230W mono-crystalline for 24V or higher systems
Wayan Vota
InveneoWayan Vota is a technology expert focused on appropriate information and communication technologies (ICT) for rural and underserved areas of the developing world. He is a Senior Director at Inveneo and is the editor of ICTworks
A student at jkuat i need a laptop what are my chances? kindly respond
regards
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