Solar Power and Regenerative Agriculture in Burma

We returned to Burma around Christmas time and it’s been a whirl of activity ever since, with many notable successes!

In January, I attended a week-long workshop on “E-Cooking”, that is cooking with electricity. For many people in the West, it might seem strange that E-Cooking would be a viable option in developing countries, but not so. In Asia, the electric rice cooker is to be found in almost every household that has access to grid power, and the induction hot plate is also catching on quickly. One of the key elements in the workshop was a new type of Lithium batteries, which include a built-in controller that avoids damage to the battery caused by over-discharge, (a common problem with batteries in Burma). We’ll see whether electric cooking, using batteries, actually finds a place in the energy mix of developing countries or not. For the moment, I was happy to learn that someone was working on the issue and that the energy options for the poor are constantly expanding.

Back at home, we had to deal with our own water situation, as the well we drilled two years ago was still producing water tinted red with silt from deep down in the earth. I never liked the idea of using well water for irrigating our plants, as that might contain salts that would ultimately contaminate our soil. So, when a neighbor offered to let us build a cistern on his land, which would be filled from an adjacent stream, we jumped at the opportunity. Unfortunately, the clay walls rapidly began to collapse, and we had to build a stronger stone cistern. But now we a glad that we did, as this gives a secure source of pure water in copious quantites. Like most of our neighbors, we are now able to irrigate our crops, using overhead sprinklers and the tile in the shower also needs less frequent scrubbing!

For some time now, I have been in contact with a British/Burmese NGO called “Helping the Burmese Delta”, who build schools in the Ayerwaddy Delta area. They are about to install a solar system at their new High School and they wanted a solar training for three of their lead people. So, it was a pleasure to provide a week-long training for such a small group – more time to make sure that each participant was getting the most out of the training. I will be rejoining them in the Delta in May for the actual installation – stay tuned.

I have spending a good deal of time on my worm project, which is coming along nicely, as I gradually figure out what they like and don’t like. This is a big subject and I will cover it completely in a future report.

The big project of Spring 2018 was of course, the construction of our new Solar Roots Training Center building. It’s almost finished and should be wrapped up in another 2 or 3 weeks. (Right now it’s Water Festival, when everything closes and it will be another week till normal service is restored!) Please keep following our reports and find out how the Training Center turned out.

Best wishes,

Bruce and Thida

Links:

• A worthy NGO building schools and supporting health care.