Category: Africa

How to build a solar powered camera

Everyone’s dream is a solar powered camera. The best way a camera has continuous electric supply is with solar panels, harnessing uninterrupted wireless data support.

Difficulty level: Moderate

Time Required: At least 5 to 6 hours

Resources required
1. Webcam
2. Wires
3. 12V rechargeable battery
4. Hammer
5. Drill
6. Screw and Screw driver
7. Solar Panel
8. Central hub/ Computer

Estimate cost: $100 to $500

Instructions

1. You can choose any wireless camera that you may find, powered by 12-volt battery.

2. An important criterion is the battery selection. You need to buy a long storage battery to make the operation continued in long wintery nights with reduced daylight. If the camera consumes  60 watts per day then you need to have at least 6 Amp-hours of backup from your 12 V battery.

3. The third step is to chose the solar panel. The power captured by solar panel will be used to recharge the battery. Buy the solar panel according to your light conditions. In open space with lot of sunlight hours, you can buy a solar panel of 5-10 W or you have to purchase a solar panel with high power capturing facilities.

4. Now you can start assembly the battery. You need to connect the  battery to the webcam. You can use the drill, hammer and screws to fix the whole assembly. If you are assembling it in rainforest, it is better to have solar panel mounted above the canopy of the forest. In ranches, a place above camera or anywhere inside your property is good enough as long as it is getting enough sunlight.

5. Next – mount the camera on either a tree or a pole with help of metal L brackets. You also need to mount the control box and battery in such a way that it do not get wet.

6. Connect the webcam wirelessly with your computer or central monitoring facility. When everything is ready, let the battery charge for day before the whole assembly starts working with your battery with limited charging.

Solar power in Abu Dhabi

The Court of HH Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, has been equipped with solar panels.

The installation of photovoltaic panels on the roof of the building was completed in record time by Gulf International Trading Group.

The installation on the roof of the building is hooked up to the Department of Electricity and Water Authority’s main generator.

This project further goes to prove the economic visions for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi 2030.

How to make a solar powered charger

To build a solar powered charger you need to follow a few steps and to use some basic equipment.

Solar panels are available at affordable prices and in all possible sizes.

It’s not complicated to build a solar powered charger. You’ll see in the next steps:

1.Collect the required tools
To make a solar powered charger you will need tools like: AA batteries, Battery holders, a USB extension a/a cable, electrical tape, glue gun or tape to hold the pieces in place,terminal strip or soldering iron, blocking diode, a drill, a 6 volt solar panel.

2.Select the diode
Standard diodes drop the voltage by 0.6 V, while the Schottky diode drops it by 0.2 V which can be a deciding factor in whether the charger works or not. So it’s better to choose a standard diode which will ensure quality of the functioning of the charger.

3.Cutting the USB cable
To build the kit, you have to cut the USB cable at the end which has the jack and remove everything except the red and black wire. This cable will be used in constructing the circuit.

4. Test the solar panel
To be sure that is working, check the solar panel before connecting it to the circuit.
It should yield the output of 2 volt inside the room and 2.5 volt in bright sunlight.

5.Sticking
The next step is to stick the pieces to make a circuit. Solder the red wire of the cable to the diode and then the diode to the red wire from the solar panel. In the next step solder the black wire from the solar panel to the cable. This completes the step of soldering. Soldering creates a serial connection which adds the voltages together, giving an output between 4 and 5 V, which is the required voltage for operation of a standard charger.

6.Drilling
You need to drill a hole for the cables to make it pass through the solar panel.

7.Setup
This step involves the fitting of the components of the solar charger into the project box.

8.Tested the completed solar charger
All you have to do now is to connect any one of the gadgets with minimal power requirement to the finalized solar charger to test it out. The solar panels need to be exposed to bright light. If the solar panel does not get ample light, it will not function appropriately. It’s better to turn off the gadget while charging; it will increase the life of the solar panel.

A new solar academy is opened in Kenya

Three German PV companies have launched a solar academy in Nairobi.

It is a partnership between Energiebau Solarstromsysteme Gmbh, Schott Solar, Solar Technology and the German Company for International Cooperation.

The German Solar Academy opened with a one-week training activity, which took place in mid June.

About 40 participants from Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda were attended.

In addition to gaining knowledge on PV systems, including background information on the planning, installation, operation and maintenance of off-grid and grid-connected systems, the participants also visited the PV systems at the new UNEP headquarters.

Schott says that further training will be offered biannually.

Egypt has one of the first solar-gas hybrid plants in the world

Iberdrola has started its plans to commission the 150-MW Kuraymat power plant due south of Cairo, which fuses solar energy with a combined cycle gas plant, even in Egypt was a “nightmare”.

The Integrated Solar Combined Cycle (ISCC) facility was opened this month.

The project has a total capacity of 150 megawatts (MW).

This facility incorporates technology that combines the use of gas and solar energy and  is one of the first of its kind in the world.

The power plant is located 95 kilometers south of Cairo, will supply enough power for 200,000 people while saving around 16,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere each year.

At Kuraymat project 1,000 people have worked over the last three years.

The Egyptian plant has been built very close to the River Nile.

The area where the plant is built has become a strategically important region for the generation and distribution of electricity in Egypt.

Having this solar-gas plant, Egypt will save 5,000 tonnes of natural gas every year.

Iberdrola Engineering built and designed this ISCC-type facility to work in two different operational modes, in order to increase efficiency: during the night it operates as a conventional natural gas combined cycle plant, while during the day it operates a normal cycle but with the added energy provided by the sun.

On one side, the Kuraymat plant is fitted with a General Electric model 6FA gas turbine and a Siemens model SST900 steam turbine, while on the other it has a solar field covering 130,800 m2, with 160 parabolic cylinder CSP collectors and 1,900 m2 of mirrors.

Kuraymat is the first solar thermal electric facility in Egypt.

1 Million Solar Water Heaters in Africa by 2015

A major green initiative will take place in Africa.

Eskom, the South African utility has announced a plan to install 1 million solar water heaters by 2015 and for many they will be free, because Eskom will offer free 110 liter capacity solar water heaters to the families who use paraffin heaters that cause air pollution.

Even for families that do not qualify for free electricity, Eskom offers rebates of up to 120% of the heater cost.

The use of solar heaters will make sense in this sunshine abundant nation.

Until now, Eskom has installed 30.000 free solar water heaters in just one township, and rebates offered to many wealthier families also.

The solar water heater consists of a water tank and a set of evacuated glass tubes that are solar collectors.

On clear sunny days, the water temperature can reach 55 degrees Celsius or higher.

South Africa is emitting 50% of the entire continent’s greenhouse gas emissions; this explains the large number of solar installations.

Another part of the country’s efforts is an ambitious plan to build a huge 5GW solar thermal power plant that could single-handedly provide 10% of the nation’s electricity needs.

The first 1GW is expected to feed into the grid in 2012.

Illuminate your swimming pool with solar powered lights

There is no need to swim in the dark; you can illuminate your swimming pool perfectly well using solar energy instead.

These solar powered lights are very efficient, highly water resistant and they will keep your pool without an extensive electricity bill.

The solar powered lights have solar panels on the top that soak in the sun’s energy during the day time storing it all in internal rechargeable batteries.

During the dark hours the lights then glow, using the energy collected during the day.

These lights are using LED’s with 140 lumens capable of illuminating a space extending out to 1,000′ sq and also work as a thermometer for your pool, with an LCD on the top that shows the water temperature in the pool.

Easy to attach, this solar powered “solar pool light” is available for $180.

A new trend: Solar powered handbag

The interactive design firm, Diffus created a new innovation of solar powered handbag.

The glittering solar powered handbag use as design elements solar panels attached to it.

With the help of Swiss embroidery company Forster Rohner and the Alexandra Institute, Diffus wired 100 tiny solar panels onto the bag’s exterior , enough to generate power for your cellphone or other mobile device.

When the bag is opened, the fiber optics are activated and illuminating it during dark hours, allowing you to pick out your keys from your bag at night without fidgeting around.

Empower your iPhone with the solar window charger

Solar energy undoubtedly is one of the best eco-friendly discoveries in the world.

The XD Design solar window charger uses the solar energy to the optimum level.

This window charger can be attached to the window easily and it comes with a small as well as big USB output.

The charger works on a simple mechanism – the outside body catches the sunlight and the smoothly designed inside charges the gadget.

It comes with a 1400mAh rechargeable lithium battery and a mini usb cable and costs a whopping 49, 90 €.

It’s made of plastic and weighs a light 0.135 kg.

This small solar gadget is a wonderful eco-friendly product and am sure many households would welcome such a product with open arms.

With the rising problems in electricity supply and burning of non-recyclable energies, solar energy seems to be a superb way out.

Beauty always comes with a price.

Another kind of renewable energy: Human Waste

Another renewable source is biomass and is a biological material produced from living organisms and their byproducts, such as food waste, wood, excreta etc.

An excellent biomass is now considered the human waste.

More companies are turning to renewable energy from biomass.

The anaerobic digestion is the best method, which produce biogas, comprising of methane and carbon dioxide, which is used directly as cooking fuel.

The advantages of using human waste is that this will help protecting natural resources when the resultant product is used for cooking, fueling and will benefit to lower the greenhouse effect.