Provide electricity to 500 students in Belize

Dear Supporters,

I am thrilled to report that data yielded by the E-gauges combined with a site-visit and meeting with Solar-Energy-Solutions-Belize (SESB) has resulted in our ability to (finally) nail down our course of action to complete our Phase 3 part of the project. We have faced several obstacles along the way: (1) that Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) decided to re-program our "net-metering" bi-directional meters so that they not only do not credit us for power sent back to the grid, but that they actually RUN FORWARD when we send power back to the grid; (2) changes in practice with residential solar here in North Carolina, where I am based, have put economic pressure on our traditional solar-provider, BRE, such that they have had to cut staff significantly. While these situations were developing, we were fortunate to grow a relationship with SESB, who oversaw the egauge installation. Then, in April, I met with the SESB CEO and a technical specialist on-site at the school. In brief, results show that (1) our Phase 2 installation is at about the right size for the meter to which it is connected, meaning that we are using most of what we generate, and only pushing a tiny bit of power back on to the grid (and thus paying BEL for that privilege....sigh) -- except on weekends, when we do overgenerate and thus reduce the benefit considerably; (2) our Phase 1 installation is producing way too little power to be of concern for having to pay BEL for excess... (good news there); (3) our Phase 1 array has developed some physical artifacts (picture attached) -- which, according to SESB, is a known problem with that generation of panels manufactured in Canada. The  result is that our original, Phase 1 array, is now generating only about 50% of theoretical peak, or about 2.5KW on a bright sunny day. However, the egauge on that array shows that we have plenty of headroom -- this meter draws or exceeds 10KW when the A/C is on (the office A/C was moved onto this main breaker/meter last year). Given this data, and following further discussions with SESB, they advise strongly not to address the artifact issue with the manufacturer because that process would be expensive -- too expensive and time-consuming to worry about.

Taking all of this into account, our action plan for Phase 3 is now clear: (1) purchase and install 3-4KW of new-generation 250W panels to augment our Phase 1 array. This will be enough to make a signficant dent in the power bill without over-generating much when school is in session; (2) install automatic on/off switches for both arrays set to turn panel power production "off" on the weekends; (3) further train local staff to  manually shut off both arrays when school is not in session (holidays, summer-break, etc.). Items (2) and (3) will significantly reduce the unfortunate disbenefit that BEL is imposing upon us, improving the net savings significantly. SESB informs us that it is likely that the Belize government WILL pass general legislation mandating that BEL re-establish net-metering, but that this political process may take a year or so. When (if?) that happens, it would then eliminate the need for on/off switching. You have helped us tremendously to this point, and we are now at a stage where we can move forward and complete Phase 3 in the next 6-12 months.

During this period, we will need to make a push to finish financing the project. To that end, I will be making another site-visit next week, including a visit to SESB headquarters in Belmopan. There, we will nail down the final specs for the new panels to-be-purchased as well as the automatic on/off switch(es) and local installation charges. Upon return, I will also meet w/ BRE, who will manage the actual acquisition the new panels and stage them to port (Miami) for shipping to Belize. This will allow us to calculate the remaining portion of our project budget quite accurately.

Secondly, there is a BONUS day coming up on GlobalGiving: GG Rewards Bonus Day will be from 9:00 EDT to 23:59 EDT on Wednesday, July 12th! On this day, GlobalGiving will have $110,000 in matching funds. Superstar organizations will be mached at 50%, Leaders at 40%, and Partners at 30%. (We are currently a partner).In addition to matching funds, there will be many additional prizes up for grabs on this day! These funds go very quickly, so to see any matched rewards we basically have to be ready to go at 9AM EDT that day. I will send out an update on exactly how and when to make a special contribution that day.

Thank you one and all for your patience and support as we worked through these issues on Phase 3.

Sincerely, John