Bringing About Change!

This is a fantastic publication by SMA:
http://www.sma.de/fileadmin/content/global/Company/Documents/SMA_Imagebroschuere_EN_20120331.pdf

Very well done!

Off-grid Bangkok townhouse hybrid solar-wind system

Mark Hindelang has installed an urban aquaponics farm in his townhouse in Bangkok, and wanted to demonstrate he can also run it off-grid.

We installed a 2.2 kWp solar PV system and a 200 W Airbreeze windturbine on his roof to power the pumps that run the aquaponics system.

12 SolarWorld modules of 185 Wp were used, to be installed on a tiled roof.

The control board being assembled on-site. Morningstar TriStar charge controller, SunTechnics inverter, breakers and connectors.

Working on the steep roof was tricky and safety harnesses were essential.

  

The roof-axis was oriented North-South and it was decided to mount half the modules on the East-facing roof-slope and the other half on the West-facing roof-slope to allow for a balanced charging of the batteries throughout the day.

The small windturbine was installed on the highest point of the roof on a pole fixed to the facade.

The battery bank.

and the final control panel, mounted on the wall.

  

Solar pumping in Mae Sot

SolarWorld Singapore wanted to donate some old 50 Wp solar modules to an NGO in Thailand. We found BGET (Border Group Energy Team) interested in them to run a solar pump.

The water had to be pumped up some 40-50 meters from a shallow well to an area where they were planning to build a centre to educate Burmese refugee children in sustainable agricultural practices.

The site is at a small remote village near Mae Sot, on Thailand's western border with Myanmar.

The shallow well.

  

Work started first on the 1200 Wp array.

  

Then the HDPE pipe and array cable where laid into a trench, leading down to the shallow well.

The Grundfos SQFlex pump.

PVC cable conduit was used to protect the array cable.

The completed array. The pump started up immediately and supplied about 2000 liters of water per hour at 4 pm.