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One of the first priorities of the Grupo Fenix is to educate themselves
and the public in the possibilities of renewable energy. To this
end, they have organized seminars, workshops, short courses and
several renewable energy fairs.
Most of the people in Nicaragua use wood as their cooking fuel,
which requires much labor to gather, and smoke from the fires causes
serious lung and eye problems, especially among women and children
who spent time in the kitchen. The remainder use a rather poor quality
of LP gas called Tropigas. The extensive cutting of firewood is
deforesting the countryside, and the Tropigas is damaging to the
environment and expensive for the average family. To alleviate this
problem the Fenix group has been involved since its inception in
the design and construction of various types of solar box cookers.
We have had a number of workshops where participants learn how to
construct and use these environmentally- clean devices.
One of the recent Fenix educational projects has been a 12 day
Technical/Cultural Course, taught in English International visitors,
giving them an opportunity to visit the countryside with Fenix workers
and experience the bringing of electricity to remote villages. The
course also includes an intensive 3-day set of class sessions on
solar energy and workshops where PV modules and solar cookers are
constructed.
Manufacturing Photovoltaic Systems
In Nicaragua
In most rural parts of the Third World, photovoltaic modules
are the best way to get small amounts of electricity to remote villages.
The modules are rugged, easy to install, require very little maintenance
(virtually all of this is to the storage batteries needed to give
light at night and electric power during cloudy spells) and with
no moving parts, the systems will last for decades. The major problem
with photovoltaic systems is their high cost. Actually making the
photovoltaic modules as a "cottage industry" in a developing
country is a good way to cut these costs, as well as to give employment
to local people and keep much of the hard cash for the systems from
leaving the country. Grupo FENIX, affiliated with Dr. Komp's non-profit
Foundation Skyheat, has been manufacturing and installing small
photovoltaic systems in remote villages in Nicaragua. The system
consists of a 35-Watt PVmodule, fluorescent lamps, a deep-cycle
storage battery, a charge controller, and wiring. Except for the
solar cells and some other special electronic parts, the entire
system is made in Nicaragua from local parts by these pioneers.
The solar cells are broken and reject cells purchased from a US
PV manufacturer at a bargain price, then cut and tested to ensure
that the final modules are of first quality. The PV modules are
specially designed for the tropical conditions in Nicaragua with
high temperature silicone encapsulants and extra cells to compensate
for the higher operating temperatures.
The high-efficiency 12-volt fluorescent lamp ballasts are designed
by Fenix engineers. They operate the full-size 20-watt tubes manufactured
in Costa Rica and available in any hardware store in Nicaragua.
We also contacted a local battery manufacturer and put him back
into the business of making deep-cycle lead-acid batteries. Recently,
SUNI, a for-profit company, has been formed to handle the manufacture
of all these components needed for a remote photovoltaic system.
The latest SUNI product is a charge controller for the PV systems.
These are being made as part of a joint venture with Lyncom, a small
US manufacturer of these devices. The PV system is sold to cash-poor
rural dwellers on a long-term time payment arrangement geared to
their limited means. In the northern part of Nicaragua, because
of the effects of Hurricane Mitch on the farmer's income, it has
been necessary to subsidize the small systems. The farmer still
pays the major part of the approximately $500 installed system price.
In addition to the home systems, Fenix has also been installing
PV systems on community buildings, such as schoolrooms and churches.
These systems are totally paid for by outside donations and make
it possible to start adult classes in literacy and other subjects
in this tropical country where the sun goes down within 20 minutes
of 6 PM all year round.
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Several of the original Fenix group
preparing one of the early prototype PV modules for installation
of the roof of the home of Susan Kinne. Two of the members pictured
here did a one year study of renewable energy in Germany while
another is now working as a professional engineer for one of
the small renewable energy companies that have sprung up recently
in Nicaragua. |
Working with Landmine Victims
In July of 1999 the Grupo Fenix received a grant from a Canadian
governmental organization, through the Falls Brook Centre in New
Brunswick, to help rehabilitate and train landmine victims. Working
with the Joint Committee of War Victims (CCDPM), teams are going
out into the countryside in the areas around Somoto, near the Honduras
border, where much of the war was fought and where thousands of
landmines were placed. In their first set of trips to the remote
villages, the teams of two or three persons (made up of victims
from both the Sandinista and Contra sides in the conflict and now
working well together) are educating the people on the dangers of
landmines and looking for civilians who have been injured by the
landmines. They are also bringing back reports of newly-found landmines
so that the army experts can destroy them. (One major problem is
that the floods caused by Hurricane Mitch have washed away many
of these mines to areas that were formerly considered safe.) The
next stage of the project, once the victims have received prostheses
and physical therapy, is to train them to be solar practitioners.
These people are going back to their native villages knowing how
to build and install PV systems, construct solar ovens and, in general,
educate their friends and neighbors on the possibilities of solar
and other renewable energies. With leadership of a core group of
land mine survivors and two local engineers, this war torn section
of the country is showing hope for a progress based on integrating
the use of solar energy into the rural life style. The idea is to
establish a "solar culture" in the area around Somoto.
This Fenix group has already set up a pv module fabrication workshop
in a remote villlage and helped organize well received Ecological
Fairs in Somoto. Since the grant money is inadequate for the number
of villages involved and the number of victims who have come forward,
and since the major emphasis of the Canadian granting organization
is on the medical concerns of the victims, we are now looking for
outside funds to move forward in the solar part of this work.
FENIX is engaged in other renewable energy activities, such as designing,
installing, and maintaining village-scale PV systems for rural health
clinics and is investigating wind energy possibilities. Fenix has
also been offered the donation of up to three large wind generators.
A group of supporters in the US is raising money for the transport
and instillation of these wind machines. One of the students at
the UNI has built a 1 kW microhydroelectric generator, even casting
his own bronze Pelton wheel, and we would like to start installing
these machines along. We have also had Bo Mathews, a microhydro
expert come down from Canada to teach a special course in the subject,
as well as lead field trips to promising sites with fast-falling
streams in such places as the Isle of Ometepe. Future plans include
developing solar waters, hybrid pv/stills that make electricity
at the same time that they produce fresh water from sea water, and
an affordable but highly efficient 12 volt refrigerator to be made
in Nicaragua.
For more information contact: Susan Kinne, Phone: (505) 270-5125
in Nicaragua, e-mail: skinne1@juno.com
or skinne48@yahoo.com
Richard Komp, Skyheat Associates, RR 2 Box 7751, Jonesport ME 04649,
Phone: 207-497-2204, e-mail: sunwatt@juno.com.
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