solarray

From void into vision, from vision to mind, from mind into speech, from speech to the tribe, from the tribe into din.

Thursday, March 20, 2025

ChatGPT on How to Provide Solar Power to Poorest People

I've been imagining "how to provide solar power to poorest people" (some of my ideas on the topic: http://solarray.blogspot.com/2024/11/basic-electricity-for-bottom-billon.html) for all of my adult life and decided to ask ChatGPT about it.

ChatGPT said:

Creating a renewable energy system that integrates solar power, bicycles, e-bikes, and batteries can provide an innovative and sustainable solution to improve the lives of the poorest people. By combining these elements, you can create a holistic system that not only addresses energy needs but also supports mobility and enhances local economies. Here's how such a system could be designed:

1. Solar Power for Clean Energy

  • Solar-Powered Microgrids: Solar panels can be installed in communities to create a reliable and affordable energy source. Microgrids powered by solar energy could provide electricity to households, schools, clinics, and local businesses, particularly in remote or off-grid areas.

  • Solar Charging Stations: Solar panels can power community charging stations where people can charge batteries for their e-bikes or personal electronic devices, such as phones or radios. These stations could be subsidized or operated as part of a pay-as-you-go system, so the upfront cost of installation is shared.

2. Bicycles as a Sustainable Transport Solution

  • Human-Powered Bicycles: Bicycles provide a low-cost, sustainable transportation option for communities. They can be used to carry goods, transport people, or even as part of local delivery services. In areas where transportation is limited, bicycles are an affordable and effective way to improve mobility.

  • Bicycle-Powered Generators: In some situations, bicycles can be used as pedal-powered generators, where individuals can generate electricity by pedaling. This electricity could be used to charge batteries or power small devices. These generators could be useful in remote areas for powering lights, radios, or small appliances.

3. E-Bikes for Increased Mobility and Efficiency

  • Affordable E-Bikes: E-bikes (electric bicycles) are powered by rechargeable batteries and provide a more efficient form of transportation compared to regular bicycles. They are especially beneficial for people who need to travel long distances, carry heavy loads, or face difficult terrain.

  • Battery Charging via Solar: E-bikes can be charged using solar-powered charging stations. This makes them even more affordable for people in rural or off-grid areas. The integration of solar charging helps lower the reliance on fossil fuels and can reduce the overall costs of running an e-bike.

4. Battery Storage for Reliable Energy Supply

  • Affordable Solar Battery Storage: Solar energy systems can be paired with battery storage solutions. By storing energy generated during the day, batteries can supply power at night or on cloudy days. This ensures a steady and reliable supply of electricity to households and community services.

  • Battery Banks for E-Bikes: Battery storage can also be integrated into the e-bike system. For example, e-bikes could use local solar-powered battery banks to charge when they're not in use. People could also swap batteries in a community-based battery swap system, which ensures that they always have a charged battery without having to wait for it to recharge.

5. Integrated Systems for Local Economic Development

  • Solar-Powered Battery Charging Hubs: These hubs could serve as community centers where people come to charge their e-bike batteries, mobile phones, or other devices. They could be set up as small businesses or co-ops run by the community. In addition, these hubs could offer other services like bicycle repairs and rentals.

  • E-Bike and Solar-Based Transport Services: In some areas, a local enterprise could set up a transportation service where e-bikes are used to provide delivery services for goods, or even passenger transport, between villages or towns. Solar power can be used to charge the e-bikes at community hubs.

  • Creating Jobs: Integrating e-bikes, solar power, and battery storage systems can create local jobs for technicians to maintain solar panels, e-bikes, and battery systems, as well as provide training on the use of these technologies. This fosters local economic development while improving access to renewable energy.

6. Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) Models for Affordability

  • Affordable Financing Models: To ensure that the poorest people can access this integrated energy system, a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) model could be employed. This would allow users to make small payments over time to purchase or rent solar systems, e-bikes, and batteries, making it more affordable.

  • Community-Based Solar Credit Systems: Community savings or credit systems could be established, allowing people to contribute small amounts of money to fund solar installations and e-bikes. Once the system is in place, the savings or credits could be used to offset energy costs or transportation needs.

7. Environmental and Health Benefits

  • Reducing Carbon Emissions: By using solar energy, bicycles, and e-bikes, communities can reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, contributing to cleaner air and a healthier environment. This also helps reduce the economic burden of purchasing kerosene, gasoline, or diesel.

  • Improved Health Outcomes: Replacing traditional fuel-powered transport with bicycles and e-bikes can lead to a reduction in air pollution, which has significant health benefits. Also, bicycles provide a healthy mode of exercise for the people who use them.

8. Educational and Awareness Campaigns

  • Training and Education: Educating local communities about the benefits of solar power, e-bikes, and battery storage systems can ensure that these technologies are used properly and maintained effectively. This can be done through workshops or local training programs.

  • Local Leadership: Community leaders and local influencers can be engaged to promote the use of renewable energy systems and explain the long-term cost savings and environmental benefits. Building trust within the community is key to the adoption of new technologies.

9. Building Partnerships with NGOs and Governments

  • Collaborating with NGOs: NGOs focused on renewable energy, poverty alleviation, and sustainable development can be vital partners in providing technical assistance, funding, and logistical support. Organizations like d.lightM-KOPA, or SolarAid have implemented successful programs for affordable solar solutions in low-income regions.

  • Government Support and Policy: Governments can incentivize the adoption of these technologies by providing subsidies, tax breaks, or grants. They can also create policies that encourage the integration of solar energy, bicycles, e-bikes, and battery storage systems in underserved communities.

Conclusion

solar-powered, bicycle, e-bike, and battery energy system for the poorest people could transform their lives by providing affordable, sustainable, and reliable energy and transportation solutions. The integration of these technologies not only addresses energy needs but also improves mobility, creates jobs, and promotes environmental sustainability. When designed with affordability and accessibility in mind, these systems can create lasting change in communities, empowering people to improve their quality of life and contribute to a greener future.

Confirms me in my thinking that Solar IS Civil Defense

Friday, January 17, 2025

A Solar Device I Wanted in 1998

 Mother Earth News published an article of mine in August 1998 (https://www.motherearthnews.com/sustainable-living/renewable-energy/portable-solar-panel-zmaz98aszraw/) about the solar device I wanted for Christmas:

"I want a silicon on silicon sandwich, a portable solar panel with an integrated computer chip power controller. Modular, so that I can clip them together and power a house. Or a vehicle. Small enough so that I can carry one in a backpack. Or a pocket...

"It should be solid, but not too heavy, a chunk in my hand, smaller than a paperback book, and include the PV cell with a clear, unbreakable cover, the power controller, and a battery. The power controller should be built on a chip, and the controls would look like a multitester so that I can monitor amps/volts, AC and DC, input and output. The removable battery would be light, rechargeable, and recyclable. It would have a charge indicator so that I could see how close to empty I am running and a set of connectors to adapt to as many kinds of plugs and sockets as possible."

It's still something I'd like to see but now there's solar on the roof of my early 20th century double triple-decker rental apartment and I have had a solar light and charger on my backpack for over 20 years.  

This kind of modular solar/battery system could also fit in with e-bikes&scooters and other electric micro-mobility devices, some with regenerative braking too.

As the poet Lew Welch wrote, "We remain alert so as not to get run down, but it turns out you only have to hop a few feet to one side and the whole huge machinery rolls by, not seeing you at all."

There is an ad hoc basic emergency electrical system if we just recognize it and make that hop.


Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Basic Electricity for the Bottom Billion

 There are about 700 million people worldwide without access to any electricity at all and another 1.18 billion people are estimated to be in energy poverty.  80% of those without any access are in Sub-Saharan Africa: Nigeria (86 million), Democratic Republic of Congo (76 million), and Ethiopia (55 million) have the highest numbers of people without access and Pakistan is home to 40% of the Asian population without access (40 million).


According to the IEA [International Energy Agency] (https://www.iea.org/commentaries/access-to-electricity-improves-slightly-in-2023-but-still-far-from-the-pace-needed-to-meet-sdg7), if current trends continue, about 660 million people are projected to still lack electricity access by 2030 and achieving universal electricity access faces significant challenges, including underfunding.

However, decentralized solutions like mini-grids and stand-alone systems are now the least-cost option for over half of those needing access while solar lanterns and chargers, smaller off-grid solar PV systems, are meeting basic and essential electricity services.

The IEA estimates around 18% of those previously without access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa now have solar lantern or multi-light and charger systems which provide basic services but are lower power than IEA's essential electricity standards:

"Basic electricity services or a basic bundle include more than one light point providing task lighting, phone charging and a radio. Essential electricity services or an essential bundle include four light bulbs that can run for four hours per day, a fan that can run for three hours per day and a television that can run for two hours per day. Solar home systems are off-grid solar PV systems with capacity above 10 Wp [10W peak power] and meet the IEA threshold for electricity access, providing basic or essential electricity services depending on size. Solar lanterns and solar multi-light systems are off-grid solar PV systems with capacity up to 10 Wp and do not meet the IEA threshold for access. For further information on these definitions, see the IEA’s Guidebook for Improved Electricity Access Statistics."
Source:  https://www.iea.org/reports/guidebook-for-improved-electricity-access-statistics

560 million people, roughly, are without access to electricity now in Sub-Saharan Africa.  The average household size there is 6.9 people which means there are roughly 81.16 million families without access.

Here are two minimal solar lights and chargers available now in Nigeria:
$5 solar lantern and phone charger
https://www.jumia.com.ng/generic-solar-led-camping-light-tent-lamp-usb-rechargeable-bulb-portable-lantern-310220583.html

$4.60 Solar Lantern with Mobilephone Charger and FM Radio
https://www.swiftermall.com/solar-lanterns/326-solar-lantern-with-phone-charger.html

At retail, a little over $0.4 billion would provide at least minimal electricity to all those families now without access to electrical power, enough for at least a light and a cell phone.

How do we accelerate these already existing economies and marketplaces to provide basic electricity to everyone who wants it?

Grameen Bank's no collateral loans and Grameen Shakti's financing system which was successful in helping to solarize Bangladesh might be one accelerant:

"He [Mr. Gazi who runs a small shop at a village market] can afford the solar system because he earns money using it.  In addition to selling groceries at the market, he is a small-scale energy service provider, a micro-utility, serving a clientele of three.  His solar system powers four lamps, but he uses only one to light his shop.  He rents the other three lamps to his neighbors, shop owners like himself.  All four benefit from solar electricity:  Mr. Gazi from the monthly rental fees and Shakti’s easy credit terms.

"Shakti’s financial model for micro-utilities is simple and adaptable.  Micro-utility entrepreneurs need pay only 10 percent down, pay no service charge, and enjoy an extended repayment period of three and a half years.  In the case of Mr. Gazi, a branch engineer first calculated if the shop owner could make a profit after paying his monthly installment. Shakti then provided one lamp for half price to help get him started.  He paid full price for the remaining three lamps and backed the expense by renting them to neighboring shop owners.  Branch staff provided training and maintenance free of cost and were close at hand when Mr. Gazi had problems.  Today, he has repaid his loan, owns the solar system, and enjoys additional income…. their [shop owners who are micro-utilities] monthly income from renting out lamps exceeds the amount of their monthly installments."

from my notes on Green Energy for a Billion Poor by Nancy Wimmer
https://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2014/04/green-energy-for-billion-poor.html

These small solar lights and charging systems are what anyone should have on hand in case of emergency or disaster, too.  After all, Solar IS Civil Defense.  A buy one, get one [BOGO] program might be another accelerant, especially if we here in USAmerica get serious about preparing for the next weather emergency in ways that adapt and mitigate climate change.

In the 1980s there was a non-profit that worked in the Dominican Republic building small-scale solar called Enersol.  One of their techniques was to use motorcycle and car batteries as energy storage.  These days, e-mobility devices like bikes and scooters could serve as "rolling batteries" just like an electric vehicle and could be integrated into a local solar microgrid.  Bicycle chargers as well. 

There are opportunities all around us if we recognize them.

We remain alert so as not to get run down, but it turns out you only have to hop a few feet to one side and the whole huge machinery rolls by, not seeing you at all.
Lew Welch

Quite clearly, our task is predominantly metaphysical, for it is how to get all of humanity to educate itself swiftly enough to generate spontaneous behaviors that will avoid extinction. 
R. Buckminster Fuller

the war that matters is the war against the imagination
all other wars are subsumed in it.
Diane di Prima

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Raising Hell in the Paradise Built in Hell

As the saying goes, never let a disaster go to waste.

Seems some people are reading A Paradise Built in Hell, Rebecca Solnit's book about the spontaneous mutual aid efforts that spring up about disasters [my notes at https://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2016/07/notes-on-rebecca-solnits-paradise-built.html] and deciding to raise Hell in any possible Paradise for their own political purposes.  These are the people who are spreading disinformation and misinformation in the wake of the recent back-to-back Hurricanes Helene and Milton and even threatening FEMA workers.

There's a term for this, resilience targeting, interfering with "the ability to recover, whether physically, emotionally, socially, or geographically, from a disaster."  Much more at https://www.truthorfiction.com/how-to-fight-disinformation-part-v-resilience-targeting/

This reactionary anti-climate/environment/ecology pushback is likely to get worse as climate groups begin to do what they should have been doing for years, preparing practically for the next weather emergency in ways that speed the necessary transition, whether the emergency arrives or not, building the disaster relief infrastructure and practicing for the seven lean years or how to live within our own ecological limits. 

The Climate Mobilization Project (https://theclimatemobilization.org) is one climate group now organizing around community preparedness:

"We are launching a  movement to survive climate impacts, heal together, and rise up against fossil fuels."

Here's one of their projects in Kentucky:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOieLeLY0RY

I like Solar IS Civil Defense myself (https://solarray.blogspot.com/2024/03/one-easy-shift-to-solar.html) and The Footprint Project (https://www.footprintproject.org) has "deployed dozens of larger solar microgrids, solar generators and machines that can pull water from the air to 33 sites so far, along with dozens of smaller portable batteries."

Mutual Aid Disaster Relief (https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org)

Progressive People's Action (https://www.facebook.com/PPAofPinellas/)

Tampa Muslim Disaster Response (https://www.facebook.com/groups/tampamuslimdisasterresponse/posts/532858529339340/)

Florida For Change (https://flforchange.com),

and New Era Young Lords Florida (https://www.facebook.com/groups/279049263144607/)

are all doing hurricane relief and emergency preparedness work now.

Mystic River Watershed Association (https://mysticriver.org) has a robust "climate resilience" program (https://mysticriver.org/climate-resilience) and I expect other such watershed and conservation groups  do too.

There is also the Cajun Navy (https://www.cajunnavyrelief.com) which grew out of the response to Hurricane Katrina as did Burners Without Borders (https://www.facebook.com/BurnersWithoutBorders/),  and I remember when Recovers.org (https://recovers.org/) first began developing their software system for community preparedness and recovery.

The effects of climate change are accelerating and feeding into the polycrisis or metacrisis we are living through and we are going to need to work hard and work wisely in order to navigate these times with as little damage as possible and, perhaps, restore some of what's already gone wrong.

Friday, July 19, 2024

Heat Pumps: What I Imagine an Environmental Community Could Do

A friend pointed me to a recent Wired magazine story, "The hunt for the most efficient heat pump"

https://www.wired.com/story/heat-pump-maximum-efficiency/

Seems that friendly competition is generating interest in heat pumps in the UK and elsewhere with nearly 200 installations connected to real-time monitoring systems trying to score the highest Coefficient of Performance [COP] or Seasonal Coefficient of Performance [SCOP] at HeatPumpMonitor.org (https://heatpumpmonitor.org/).  Heat pumps with higher COPs and SCOPs provide more heat output for every input of electricity.  Standard installations are now at 2-4 COP, for every 1 kW of electricity in 2-4 kW of heat comes out.  There are some on the  leaderboard (mostly UK but at least one Danish and one USAmerican system) with COPs and SCOPs of 5 edging toward 6.

The International Energy Agency published a global estimate that heat pumps could reduce CO2 emissions by 500 million metric tons, the "equivalent to taking every car in Europe off the road."  

I dislike comparing everything to cars.  Since it's heating and cooling of houses, let's measure emissions reductions in terms of households:  "each home emits 10.97 metric tons of COS per year from all energy use combined, versus 7.27 metric tons of CO2 per year from electricity alone." 

Source:  https://www.epa.gov/energy/frequent-questions-epas-greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Calculations%20and,per%20year%20from%20electricity%20alone.

So 500 million metric tons is about 46 million households (and there are 127 million households in USAmerica).  Heat pumps could remove the annual CO2 emissions of more than a third of all households in USAmerica.

Switching from gas and electrical resistance to heat pumps will reduce the necessity to burn fossil fuels and reduce the demand for electricity due to their (much) higher efficiencies.  Natural gas boilers typically have COPs between 0.7 to 0.9 and conventional electric resistance heaters have a COP of 1.0.  Heat pumps would use at least half of the electricity we generate for HVAC now if not a quarter, fifth, sixth... as heat pump installations attain higher COPs and we build a better future.  

Of course, CO2 emissions is not the operative consumer criterion but cost per square meter, usually what homeowners are most concerned with, will go down as more installations and installers come into the market.  Heat Geek has an online tool to help you think through your own heat pump conversion at https://upgrades.heatgeek.com/;  and, if you want to participate in the COP monitoring race, a typical monitoring setup costs between £500 - 700 ($640 - 897, given current exchange rates).

I can imagine the environmental community speeding the heat pump transition.  Filling the HeatMonitor with more and more efficient heat pumps, speeding the hunt for the most efficient ones, training the HVAC professionals and the public about the advantages, economic, ecological, and social.  A report every Friday from the Future, a practical act of Extinction Rebellion.  

This is what I call a positive protest and the experience of Safecast (https://safecast.org/)developing citizens' science radiation monitoring equipment and a monitoring network in Japan after Fukushima, is one example that could be followed.  Safecast continues their work today.

There is another, additional energy efficiency aspect of heat pumps that I saw when I visited Vietnam in 2020, just before COVID-19 began.  In the apartment in one of the new high-rises in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) where I stayed, my cousin's, there were air to air heat pumps in every room.  The living room was next to the kitchen and that heat pump exhausted into the laundry room helping to dry the clothes hanging there.  I wonder if that use of energy is included in the present calculation of COP and SCOP.

Heat Pump Monitor is a project of Open Energy Monitor (https://openenergymonitor.org/) and more on Heat Geek at https://thenextweb.com/news/heat-geek-startup-heat-pumps-brits

Monday, March 25, 2024

One Easy Shift to Solar



Emergency electricity is technologically, economically, and practically trivial.  You don't need to know how to build lightbulbs, batteris, PV cells... from scratch.  They are all readily available for affordable prices as mass commodity products.  If you get them now before the fertilizer really hits the ventilation system (which is as good a descriptpion of the greenhouse effect as any other, at least for me).  If you also use them in your daily life, that will another infinitesimal drop out of the machinery of destruction and provide some personal security for yourself.

A solar light with battery charging capability for at least AA batteries costs about $10 retail. That provides you with the light, the power for a cell phone or radio, and recharging when the batteries run down.  I’ve used mine for years now and will probably get quite a few more years of use out it.

This is also entry level electricity for the bottom billion.

I’ve advocated for decades that cities like mine could do a bulk order for their citizens and help supply at least one of our sister cities around the world who needs such a program as well through a buy one get one program — solar civil defense at home and solar development abroad.

Add bicycles chargers and power take-offs for all electric vehicles, micro-mobility e-bikes/scooters/et cetera and we have an incipient emergency grid if we plan it right.  

Here’s one version of a Personal Power Set

I recently suggested to a strategy session of the local Extinction Rebellion [XR] group that working on practical climate preparation can be an effective and positive protest.  I don’t know if they’ll do anything about it but we’ll see.  I believe that we could change USAmerican energy policy and REALITY in one growing season if we went to the farmers’ markets every week throughout the growing season teaching people what they can already do and helping them do it.  
 

Here’s one version of that vision
 

Preparing now for the next weather emergency or disaster, whatever that may be, is climate adaptation and can be good climate mitigation as well.  Organizing people to get ready that way is something, I believe, XR, Fridays for the Future, 350.org, as well as the mainline environmental groups should be doing as well as their street and legislative actions.

The Climate Mobilization Project is organizing around some of these ideas this year
as is the People’s Response Network

There’s also Communities Responding to Extreme Weather

https://www.climatecrew.org

Lots of possibilities.  In fact, we are surrounded by insurmountable opportunities.  Who wants to go opportunity climbing?

"We remain alert so as not to get run down, but it turns out you only have to hop a few feet to one side and the whole huge machinery rolls by, not seeing you at all."  Lew Welch


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Wednesday, February 07, 2024

Two Solar Parabolic Troughs


 



The larger solar parabolic trough on the left I made in the 1970s for the New England Coastal Power Show, an energy show which traveled throughout the Northeast for a few years after the second Energy Crisis.  We used it to heat water, make tea, and demonstrate the availability of solar energy as well as many other working alternatives to nuclear power.

The smaller solar parabolic trough on the right is a solar oven now available from GoSun (https://gosun.co/) which has been making solar cookers for many years.  You can put it together and take it apart in a minute or two.  The collector has something I imagined back in the day but never built, a sealed insulated dark absorber to maximize solar heat collection.  

Another thing I imagined so long ago was applying heat pipe technology (https://www.heatpipe.com/what-are-heat-pipes/) to the absorber of a parabolic trough and wonder, now, if anyone has done anything with that.

I may modify the little GoSun trough so that it can also be a vertical collector like my older model.  The sealed absorber looks like it could boil water just as well as if not better than my old copper one.  

This is a good model for anyone doing public energy demonstrations at such events as science fairs or farmers' markets (https://flourishfiction.substack.com/p/mister-franklins-folks).