Mike Sullivan installed this solar PV system at a Tibetan monastery to provide lighting for the 40 resident monks to study religious texts at night. The system includes a 2400 W PV array, 40 Chinese 500 A-h nickel-iron batteries (freeze resistant), and a 4,000 W inverter supplying 230 Vac, 50 Hz power. At an elevation of nearly 16,000 feet, the monastery is completely isolated for several months each year due to winter ice and snow and impassable bogs during summer monsoons. The project also provided medical supplies, tools, maintenance equipment and a solar water distiller. We're planning to go back and upgrade this system during the summer of 2002 as well as beginning the process or starting some herb processsing micro-enterprises.