Renewable Energy Education Shines on Jamaica

Treasure Beach Forum: TB Runnin's: Renewable Energy Education Shines on Jamaica
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Z on Friday, May 11, 2012 - 07:54 pm: Edit Post

US Solar Institute (USSI) in nearby Florida has always received a trickle of students from the Caribbean. But in recent months, that trickle has become a stream – one heavy enough to warrant opening a new branch office in Kingston to offer solar energy courses in Jamaica.

“We’ve trained many Jamaican students already, but the country needs a lot more installers if it wants to move off fossil fuel,” says lead instructor and USSI President, Ray Johnson. “By providing solar energy courses in Jamaica, we’ll build the necessary green workforce much faster than we can from Florida.”

USSI plans on launching its new solar installation training campus within the coming months – in time to help build a 24MW** solar farm scheduled for Paradise Park, Jamaica later in 2012.

“We’re already in discussions with the original equipment manufacturer to provide the labor and PV installation training for this solar farm,” says Johnson. “With so many of our graduates already in Jamaica, the timing couldn’t be better.”

(US Solar Institute)

http://info.ussolarinstitute.com/blog/?Tag=solar+energy+courses

**=24,000,000 watts ÷ 250 watts (typical low cost solar panel like from the India company: Sonali @ US$1.20 per watt + Shipping) = 96,000 solar PV panels (equivalent)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By turey on Friday, May 11, 2012 - 09:07 pm: Edit Post

Good.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Zed on Saturday, May 12, 2012 - 07:47 pm: Edit Post

turey...I sensed that you are biting at the bit, once you've dug foundations to your Casa del Sol...del Solom, sprinkled goat blood on the corners (or in the case of your round bohio) on its intuited cardinal direction-tangent points, that you might want to take on your solar pv/thermal installation... mainly as a DYI, with an electrician at the ready supervising and wiring & plumber for the solar water heating install.

You confess that you've been around tools, electrical equipment and perhaps a bank of aplifiers on the musical stage, but for anyone contemplating the sequence of operations to grid-tie to the "light pole", and have a level of independence from JPS by installing battery back-up, there are some serious cautions.

From a solar-experienced electricians perspective: A code-compliant solar photovoltaic system installed by a skilled and experienced installer is as safe as any other electrical component in your home. Unfortunately, it’s not over-dramatic to say that an inexperienced DIY-er could make a mistake that starts a fire or, even worse, suffer an injury – nasty things like burns, falls, and electric shock – while trying to install PV panels.

Solar power takes a diverse level of expertise; it is sort of a cross section of several types of electrical work — AC, DC and advanced grounding for starters. Even for someone with a base level of electrical knowledge, it’s vital to have the input of an experienced (licensed) electrician.
These systems can operate at up to 600 volts of direct current electricity, and since your power source is the sun (and nobody can do much work in the dark) you aren’t in charge of the on off switch! Once the panels are up and wired, we actually have a 60-step checklist that every solar technician goes through on the last day of an install, just to make sure everything is done properly and safely — and that the system is performing to its full potential.


Other complications are the calculating of roof loads (for the weight of the panels)...not usually a problem when code is followed; care when nailing in supporting racks or rails to fasten into solid joists so as not to penetrate the sheathing causing leaks; the utility companies take a very dim view of potentially risky interfacing home -electrical equipment tied to their grid; the possibility of voiding a warranty that under certain conditions endure for 25 years.

Solar thermal systems can be tough, too, but for different reasons: they require a tremendous amount of plumbing expertise. Any small mistake can lead to a leak, and if it’s in the wrong place, you can cause severe damage to the home.

Read More @ The Southern Energy Management Link:
http://blog.southern-energy.com/index.php/sem-solar/the-potential-risks-of-diy-s olar

Jamdown Building Rituals: Goat's Blood Sprinkled Around the Corners of the Foundation from which the House Shall Rise...Same Goes for the Roof Party with Crew & Owner Nyaming on the Meat with lots of Firewater (Rum) Shared.

LINK: The Roof Party
www.greatviewjamaica.com/bookpages/Greatview-pp43-45.pdf


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Z on Sunday, May 13, 2012 - 11:10 am: Edit Post

The "Business" of Solar and How the "China Manufacturing Factor" is Affecting Reduced Price of Panels, Jobs in Industrial & Less Developed Countries...A Cornering of the Renewables Market

• It seems like boom times for U.S. solar. With demand skyrocketing, about $11 billion worth of solar power is set to be installed this year, and more than five times that amount is coming down the pike. Solar is employing 100,000 Americans, a number that rose by 7% last year even as overall employment barely grew at all.
But even as solar power thrives in the U.S., many think the business could be growing faster--and creating more American jobs--if it weren't for alleged foul play by China, the country's biggest solar rival.

• If you're a customer buying solar panels or running a business that installs or services them, you're doing well. But if you make solar modules-especially in the U.S.-your balance sheet looks ugly. That's because solar power is getting much cheaper: prices for modules have dropped 40% over the past five years.

China now produces three fifths of the world's solar panels-a proportion that is a likely to increase.


If tariffs are placed on Chinese panels by the US, claiming unfair trade practices in the protection of its home-grown solar industry, a trade war could be triggered, and if the tariffs bite, this most certainly would mean higher prices, in the Renewables sector...for the country imposing the tariff.

Hopefully, lobbying sector, finance/trade ministers, here on the Rock, are working out the most favourable importation agreements with China and other overseas manufacturers and their agents.

• A recent study commissioned by the Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy (CASE)-a trade group of solar companies that oppose tariffs-found that a 100% tariff on imported modules would result in a net loss of as many as 50,000 jobs in the U.S. over the next three years and would cost consumers up to $2.3 billion.

• Manufacturing jobs make up less than a quarter of the roughly 100,000 jobs in the U.S. economy as a whole...down from 30% in 1950.


• Environmentalists say that the focus of any solar policy should be the planet, and that means making solar power cheaper...faster.

• The real war over solar isn't the U.S. vs. China-it's solar vs. fossil fuels, and the victory is still up for grabs.

Time Magazine Links:
www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2106985,00.htm

How India is Reinventing Solar:
http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2012/02/13/bright-days-how-india-is-reinventing -solar


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By turey on Monday, May 14, 2012 - 04:28 am: Edit Post

A neighbour works with household electrical installation and is interersted in working with me when the time is right. His insistance on proper grounding is reasuring.

I've spilled enough of my own blood to satisfy the spirits Z, makka and sharp lass. The Bad Taino Duppy dem will not allow competition to enter my yard anyway.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By z on Monday, May 14, 2012 - 05:59 pm: Edit Post

tureY...I just got a quote from an agent who represents Sonali Sonar for a project designed for a Electrical Consumption requirement of 5500 watts (5.5Kw}...using top of line Energy Star appliances, conserving electrical devices, LED & CFL lighting...that's a lot of home comfort for a house that includes a caretaker's flat.

The price for the 22 panels is US$6,600 (i.e.,US$1.20/watt) shipped directly from India to Kingston, with a flat fee of US$700 CIF (Cost Insurance & Freight) for a total of US$7300.

How does that bite you?...Who is going to be the first on the South Coast to initiate a Solar Co-op for the purpose of group purchasing...enabling reasonable economies of scale...one-one-one-one=many!

LINK
http://sonalisolar.com/faq.php


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By turey on Monday, May 14, 2012 - 10:55 pm: Edit Post

Is there duty, stamp duty, GCT or any local import charges Z?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Zed on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - 10:09 am: Edit Post

turey...Currently, solar systems - including panels, batteries and inverters - are exempt from GCT and import duties.

Now...do you have some skin in the game???

The National Housing Trust (NHT) also offers low-interest "solar panel loans" of up to J$1.5 million for individual applicants and J$3 million for co-applicants. The interest rate ranges from 1 per cent to 7 per cent, depending on your weekly income, with a repayment period of 15 years.

The NHT also offers a solar water heater loan of up to J$250,000 at 3 per cent for 5 years. These loan options should be more aggressively marketed so that more Jamaicans are aware of their existence.

On the commercial side, the National Export-Import Bank of Jamaica has implemented a special credit line for manufacturers and agro-processors to establish alternative- energy systems at relatively low interest rates.


Gleaner Link:
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20101105/business/business9.html

Lobbying for Support on Energy:
www.solarbuzzjamaica.com/2010/09/msme-alliance

Solar Buzz...a young Renewables firm in Kingston...promoting cutting edge devices, like swimming pool pumps which are virtually noiseless, and really focusing-in on monitoring methods for conserving your homes energy...even from your iPhone!/?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dr LLoyd S. Gordon on Tuesday, July 29, 2014 - 10:40 pm: Edit Post

What makes you think of "bad Taino duppies"? Have you ever seen, or had communication (aural) from one? Were you being tricked by someone, or is there not such a possibility?
Quantum Organiculture Institute which undertakes studies in the History & Development of Terran Earth Civilization would like to learn more from you concerning the nature of these "duppies". A Taino Day has been declared for June 23rd by the Maroon Chief for Charles Town- Colonel Harris. Do you think this will help to mitigate the effects, or damages done by the duppies if they in truth and in fact exist?