Solar Roots Operation in Burma
I arrived back in Burma, (now often referred to as Myanmar), in January with the aim of advancing our vision for the Solar Roots Renewable Energy Training Center. It has long been a goal of mine to establish a center where I could employ local Burmese people to help me spread the good news of Renewable Energy.
Three years ago I was able to purchase a small piece of land in the village of Nya Yan Chaung, (“Catfish Stream”) which is on the edge of Pyin Oo Lwin, about 2 hours east of Mandalay. Foreigners cannot own land in Burma, so the land is held in the name of a close friend, who is a Burmese citizen. The main goal of my 2016 activities is to build a house on the land, which will initially serve as a Solar Roots headquarters and training workshop. At this juncture, let me state clearly that no Solar Roots funds have been or will be used in the purchase of the land or the building of the house – I am paying for this out of my own pocket.
In past years I have stayed at a local orphanage or in hotels and this lifestyle has become wearisome for me, as well as costly and inconvenient. At least when the house is finished, I will have a place to offer accommodation to visiting consultants, and somewhere to hold trainings and store my tools and materials.
The house building is progressing nicely, with the foundation almost completed and the steel I-beams soon to be installed. Although one of my goals for Solar Roots is to include Natural Building as one of our training options, for my own house I decided to go with modern industrial materials in the interests of fast construction and low future maintenance. One of the key features of the house design is the passive solar heat gain which will be obtained through five large windows in the SE wall. (Pyin Oo Lwin is located at 3,500ft and winters here are quite chilly). The sunlight will come through the windows, be absorbed by dark colored tiles on the concrete floor and re-radiate this heat later in the day, as the outside air temperature decreases. Other solar features will include a solar hot water heater, similar to the one we installed at St Mathews Orphanage Center in 2013 and a solar electric battery back-up system. Although we are happy to have a new power supply from the local utility, outages and frighteningly low voltages are still commonplace in the new Burma!
But this is only the beginning – we have a larger vision. I hope before I leave in July to secure an adjacent piece of land which will be for the actual Solar Roots Training Center, itself. Unfortunately, land prices have sky-rocketed since I bought my land. The half acre which cost $17,000 in 2013, now costs over $50,000. However, I am determined to have the Center within easy walking distance of my house and we have made friends with neighbors who are willing to sell us some land. All that remains is to arrive at a price that the sellers feel is fair and that I can afford. As before, no Solar Roots funds will be used in the purchase of this land – I will handle that myself.
In building the house, I have been ably assisted by Ms Thida Win, our part-time community liason person. She is great at breaking the ice with neighbors and officials. As her special interests lie in organic agriculture and composting, she can’t wait to get started as soon as the new land is secured.
I hope that you like our vision for the future of Solar Roots in Burma and that you will remain an active supporter in our quest to bring Renewable Energy and green consciousness to this wonderful country.
