Solar Power and Regenerative Agriculture in Burma

As I mentioned in a previous report, I had already visited the Duang Prateep Foundation farm near Kanchanaburi and offered to help them deal with their large electricity bill and check out their solar system. So, after returning from a quick trip to Ethiopia (more on that later), I dropped in to spend a couple of days at the farm.

As usual, I was warmly welcomed and hosted most comfortably in one of their guesthouses. The first piece of interesting news was that the Smart Meter, which measures the solar output going into the electricity grid was not working reliably. The power company said that they couldn’t read or trust the numbers showing up on the meter. I was able to confirm that the solar system was still putting energy into the grid, but it was not being measured and the Foundation was getting no credit for their contribution. I immediately offered to pay for a new Smart Meter and Prateep is now waiting for its delivery and installation. When working again, that should reduce their monthly bill by about $250, which usually runs around $900 per month. The high quality meter that we have ordered costs around $650, so is a good investment over the coming months and years.

Although there is no paperwork relating to the solar system and I cannot safely go up onto the roof to examine it, I guess that there is about 9 kilowatts worth of panels up there. The second of my discoveries was that the local pigeons love to hang out on top of the panels, not on the adjacent roof, but right on the panels themselves. And of course, they don’t fly away to defecate in a more discreet area, they just poop, right there onto top of the panels. So I offered to pay for a team of workers to go up and clean things off. Plus, later I will work with a local tradesman to set up a system of sprinklers that will shoot water on the pigeons and scare them off. But if I remember correctly the fountain in Trafalgar Square, it is more of an attraction than a deterrent! And since the management vetoed my idea of scary noises and blaring radios, we are left with water for the moment.

I was also hoping to get a handle on where their electrical energy is actually going, but my monitoring equipment was not up to the task. In Thailand, large distribution cables are made of aluminum, which turn out to be too large to get my sensors around. I was also happy to be able to withdraw from that project as the aluminum wires are very stiff, making them difficult and dangerous to work with. Quite frankly, I was concerned that I might injure myself or cause an unintentional short circuit, as wiring practices in Thailand would never pass muster under our National Electric Code. But, I was able to clear out a bird’s nest from the main meter box and that allowed me to sleep easier at night, as there were already signs of charring where the monitoring wires connected to the main feeders.

So, Solar Roots is able to make small, but progressive contributions to the New Life Project farm. I will probably be passing nearby their other Prateep Foundation farm near the port city of Chumpon in the next two weeks and I will hopefully stop in to see how we could help there too.

I recently made a personal visit to Ethiopia to see my old friend Y, (see First Visit to Ethiopia Part 1). I knew beforehand that we would be restricted to the capital Addis Ababa, due to the on-going civil war. Unfortunately, these internal (and sometimes external), conflicts have dogged Ethiopia for the last 50 years and there is no end in sight. I was hoping to get a sense that in 2 or 3 years, the situation would be stable enough for Solar Roots to start work there, but at the moment, it seems quite unlikely. There may be a Solar Roots trip to West Papua later in year to do some solar training, so stay tuned.

Once again, we thank you for your on-going support and wish you well.

Bruce