Ben Remmers, president

solarwatt@ureach.com

 

Click to view proposal

 

 

 

Desert Pointe Academy is a small K-12 Charter School in Peoria. We have a team of high school students who are involved in a solar-electric boat racing competition involving colleges and universities from all over the country, as well as a local competition in the Phoenix area. We are building another boat this year, and are interested in some used test panels to help us in our project. Specifically, we are looking for 4 80-watt panels with a nominal voltage of about 17 vdc. Weight is always a big factor in this competition, so ideally we would like the lightest panels available with the desired output.

 

The easiest way to contact me is my cell phone at: 602-367-2684 I can also be reached by e-mail at: cwoodman@cox.net Thank you very much for your consideration

 

 

 

 

Dan Lepinski, Exeltech, Sr. Engineer

 

This proposal is submitted pursuant to the requirements requesting educational PV modules.

 

1. Intended application of use of the module(s):
   Modules will be used in ongoing education projects around the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Emphasis is placed on
   hands-on demonstrations primarily at high schools and colleges where students interact firsthand with various aspects
   of solar energy.
2. Time schedule when the project will be implemented:
   Immediately (ongoing) following a period of time to construct the frames and other hardware needed to create a
   portable demonstration system. Otherwise, the educational program is already active.
3. Agreement to submit a written report detailing the educational benefit of the module(s) and/or performance details of
   the application at the end of 90 days after receipt of module(s) and again at the end of 12 months after receipt of modules(s):
   
   I agree to submit written reports 90 days after receipt of modules and again at the end of 12 months following the
   receipt of the modules detailing the educational benefit of the modules.
   
   Please note: The educational programs I promote are not performed under the responsibilities of my duties as Senior Engineer at Exeltech, although this work is done with permission of and participation by Exeltech in some projects. Even though Exeltech manufactures inverters that are used extensively in renewable energy applications, the teaching projects are completely voluntary on my part, and have been doing for more than 14 years.

 

 

In 2001, I was one of a very select regional group recognized for outstanding efforts promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy in the D/FW metroplex. This award was presented to me by the Dallas/Fort Worth Green A lliance for my w ork with events such as EarthDay and similar events. Other recipients of this award included the City of Dallas for their recycling program, Green Mountain Energy (a Texas public utility) for their promotion in the use of wind-generated electricity.

In 2002, I was also recognized for creating the first totally-solar-powered public-event soundstage in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I arranged for the loan of PV panels and a wind-generator, then provided batteries, labor, and materials to construct the power system. Exeltech provided a 5KW inverter to com plete the system , and m other nature did the rest. It was so successful, we ended up providing power for many of the event booths in addition to the soundstage.
Until today, almost all items used in my educational efforts have been purchased out of my own pocket over the years. The donation of PV panels and other items applicable to the ongoing educational effort will be deeply appreciated.

 

 

 

Kathrine J. Lewis, Geography Student, ASU

I am a geography student at Arizona State University in the College of Liberal Arts and Science. This is my third summer of research in the Andes of South America. The indigenous people in Ecuador’s inner mountain corridors are at a high elevation near the equator. Today they still practice dry land farming that has been done there for centuries.

 

This has resulted in stunted growth of the people and their animals. They are dependant on agriculture and can suffer from droughts such as the summer/fall of 2001. I propose to learn the effectiveness of solar water pumping at 9000’ elevation near the equator. I have selected one of Ecuador’s driest Andean slopes where people still use sticks for planting, go barefoot, and protect themselves from the cold with hand woven ponchos. I plan to lift river water from an irrigation ditch up a vertical distance of 245 feet.

 

Currently 32 children are enrolled in the garden school that would receive tap water. They have never had water or heat. In 2001 the school progressed from having only one room with a dirt floor. Part of the curriculum taught each day is agricultural. Students are instructed how to terrace the slopes, plant seeds and care for crops. Money from the crops buy meager supplies for the school and help support the teacher who receives a salary of only twenty eight dollars a month. The benefits of water will be 3-fold for the school. First it will allow the children to have a drink during the day. Second sufficient water will allow irrigation for the crops that are grown year round and increase the students’ knowledge and life skills.

 

Third the students will be exposed to the miracle of solar technology. I stand to benefit as a geographer from learning first hand about solar energy. Matt Hamilton, with worldwide experience as a solar technician, will accompany me to this community where he has never been. I will watch as he evaluates a new site, plans the system and directs Jorge Real, a hydraulic engineer from Ecuador and an associate of mine, regarding the forth-coming installation. TUV-PTL will have access to all the data that I collect during the initial installation as well as quarterly follow-ups from the village people and the engineer.

 

We will see what solar power can be experienced in high elevations near the equator. Next summer I will travel again and evaluate the system for myself. Application: To deliver water from irrigation ditch up vertical distance 245’ Design: To use (A) a submersible pump placed in cement box with irrigation water flowing through, (B) powered by 8 solar panels set on fixed rack, each with a minimum of 55 watts (C) which should deliver a minimum of 1865 gallons a day in July and a minimum of 1485 gallons a day in January (Based on weather conditions in nearby Quito) (D) a fence will be built to protect the array of solar panels Time Schedule: I am flying to Ecuador on August 5, 2002. Matt Hamilton is flying in on August 11, 2002. We will have two days to look at potential sights for solar water pumping.

 

He will interact with Jim Allen, of Sun Pumps in Safford, by e-mail, fax and phone if needed. He will make written recommendations for me as well as verbal instructions to Jorge Real while on site and in an evaluation meeting. The two will communicate through e-mail as needed. Rosa Maria Masaquiza who is the spokesperson for the school, Kititawa, will gather the community together to gain a schedule of participation from them to keep costs down. She will also evaluate their ability to pay for the installation of solar, water and fence. There is private funding available to me immediately in the event that they cannot cover their own expenses. So the work “mingas” will begin in mid-August supervised by Jorge Real who has done this often with indigenous groups. By hand carrying the panels I can insure delivery and a more accurate start date.

 

The community already has legal water rights and a commitment to education/ technology. Therefore the project will begin during the week of August 11th through 17th when we sign appropriate papers and a person from the community is designated to head the work crew. I will be able to bring back pictures of the project’s inception. It is reasonable to project December 2002 as the date of completion.

 

I willingly commit to return to the town of Salasaca next summer to see the solar water pumping in progress. I will meet with the engineer, the local supervisor, the head of the school to discuss the water usage and any problems. I look forward to meeting with the local people and discovering the changes that water brings into the live of indigenous children and their families in the Andes.

 

 

 

I am a Hamilton High School Student and my name is Keenan Harper. My physics teacher is Mr. Clark here at Hamilton. I am doing a physics project which is focused on alternative power sources working in cars and that is why I would like and need a solar power unit. A smaller scale power unit would be better because my dimensions for the model car are no larger than one an a half feet long and 1 foot wide and if a remote control is possible it would be appreciated. The car I have designed is a similar type to a racing rally car. It will be lower to the ground with a fin on the back where I am hoping the solar power unit will go.

 

I need the solar power unit to build the car and have it run for my project, which is testing the effect of mass on the function of the car while it goes a certain distance. I also suspect the power to be less than 10 watts.

 

 

 

Dr Abdoulaye Doucouré
Secretary of Cooperation & Fundraising for mAliWatch
Senior Staff Scientist at Pall Corporation

 

Background:

 

The problem of production and access to drinking water is one of the most crucial to Mali, a West African country located in a semi-arid region. Only 5% of its population can access water that is considered safe for consumption, according to W.H.O. (World Health Organization) standards. But the vast majority of people are forced to utilize water from wells that often contains high doses of nitrate and nitrite agents, heavy metals such as chromium VI, divalent ions (Ca2+, Mg2+), and exhibit pH oscillating in the 4-9 range.

In the capital city Bamako, industrial wastewater is dumped into the Niger river, while pretreatment steps are almost inexistent –at best, a coagulation step may be implemented. Unfortunately, the river water is used for consumption in the neighboring towns located downstream Bamako. It is therefore critical to develop effective and affordable treatment methods suitable for producing safe drinking water. For this purpose, local researchers seek to investigate whether membrane filtration units powered with photovoltaic modules can produce clean water that meets W.H.O. standards.

 

Department of Chemistry of the College of Sciences & Techniques of the University of Bamako (“FAST”) – National School of Engineering (“ENI”)

 

Professor Babacar Diop, head of the chemistry department from the “Faculté des Sciences et Techniques (FAST)” de Bamako will be conducting this program. He will work closely with Dr Adama Tolofoudyé who is in charge of the Water Quality Group from the same department. Contact information for these scientists is reported below:

 

FAST –Université de Bamako - BPE 32 06 – MALI
Tel :011 (223) 222 32 44
Professor Babacar Diop – email: mbbdiop@yahoo.fr
Dr Adama Tolofoudyé - email : adamatolo@yahoo.fr

 

Note: Once proof of principle is established, FAST researchers plan to partner with scientists from the Mali “Ecole Nationale des Ingénieurs (ENI)” to optimize the design of the Photovoltaic-Powered Membrane Filtration Pilot. Professors Arona Coulibaly (head of the Applied Energetics & Environment Lab.) and Sidi Konaté will be the contact persons at ENI.

 

Outline of the Research proposal from FAST Chemistry Department Objective of the FAST chemistry department is to determine whether brackish and ground water can be effectively treated by use of pressure-driven membrane processes such as nanofiltration and reverse osmosis.

 

These technologies are known to produce high quality water at affordable prices, and they are easily scalable. The Prior Art shows that renewable energy produced from photovoltaic cells can drive reverse osmosis (“RO”) unit and produce safe drinking water (references can be provided upon demand). The filtration unit to be built at FAST-Mali will serve for lab scale evaluations. It will comprise the following items:

Feed tank (contaminated synthetic water, local brackish/ground water);
Photovoltaic (“PV”) modules (400Wp, total power);
DC pump (e.g.: “Shurflo” 24V/48V DC pump);
Prefiltration with local activated carbon or clay (removal of heavy organics/minerals);
Nanofiltration/Reverse Osmosis membrane.

 

The testing of PV modules is of particular interest as Mali possesses one of the highest daily solar irradiation in the world. PV technology is environmentally friendly and offers an economically sound solution to produce electricity. Modules are to be installed in parallel to supply enough current to drive a 24 V (or 48V) DC pump – without batteries. Originality of this study can be described with the following points:

a) local natural resources (clay, ground coconuts etc.) to perform the prefiltration step instead of using synthetic materials.

b) the coupling of PV modules with RO is often reported in the literature, but PV-driven nanofiltration (“NF”) membrane systems seem to be a new research topic. Because NF uses more open membranes than RO, the energy needed to pump the water through should be reduced.

c) we plan to assess various RO/NF membranes in terms of filtration and cleaning performances. We believe this is a novel approach since most studies found in the literature are conducted with only one (or two) RO membrane candidate(s).

 

Request to Arizona State University – College of Technology and Innovation

 

Modules from the Photovoltaic testing laboratory at A.S.U will be extremely useful to initiate this research program. 400 Wp total power is thought to be sufficient for this preliminary study. This can be provided in the form of four 100Wp modules (type: mono-crystalline silicon – size: 3ft x 3ft), with an output of 48 volts and a current of 8.5A. Given our limited expertise in PV technology, a few papers on PV-driven RO unit will be passed on to Dr Govindasamy Tamizh-Mani. Choice of suitable PV modules for lab scale testing can be finalized with him.

 

 

 

October 2002

Ray Alfini PE

 

I am a student at Arizona State University enrolled in the Masters of Science in Building Design with respect to Energy and Climate program. This program is offered through the Department of Architecture. The Experimental Evaluation Course ATE 562 trains the students to develop ways to use and evaluate sources of energy.

 

This proposal is for a demonstration project and requests PV panels that will power a pump/motor supplying water to a solar water heating collector SWHC array. The PV panels would provide power to a 24 Volt DC pump/motor. The PV panel power displaces electrical energy that otherwise would be supplied by the power company at a maximum time of use cost.

 

Matching solar water heating with PV power incorporates a synergy of concept and control. As insolation increases PV power increases and so will the speed of the DC pump. This system will not require batteries or a DC to AC inverter. There will be no balance of system BOS costs associated with the PV panels. Water heating collector temperature sensor and pump control interlocks will not be required as insolation does it all. Therefore, life cycle costs LCC for this system will be reduced.

 

The operation of the pump and PV panel array will be tested according to National Environmental Balancing Bureau NEBB Standards and methods taught in class EET-598. The standard testing parameters will verify the suitability of PV powered water pumping for SWHC. The following test parameters will be tracked:

 

1. DC Input Voltage at the pump motor.
2. DC Input Current at the pump motor.
3. Correlative PV panel array maximum output power, Pmax.
4. Pump flow rate in gallons per minute, gpm.
5. Pump head pressure in feet of water column, Ft. WC.
6. DC pump/motor RPM at various Pmax input relative to weather patterns WP.
7. Dead head pressures in Ft. WC at various Pmax input relative to WP.

 

These parameters will be demonstrated by the system installed for the Experimental Evaluation Course ATE 562 public open house. The installed system for the open house will consist of the following components:

 

1. PV array.
2. 24 VDC pump/motor.
3. A recirculation/accumulator water tank.
4. Recirculation piping loop.
5. Side stream branch piping to a 20-foot high discharge nozzle.
6. Instrumentation to show operations.
7. Shade material to vary the insolation.

After the open house, the system will be installed onto an existing SWHC system located in Phoenix, AZ. This water heating system collects some 125,000 BTUS per day. There, additional instrumentation will be installed. The additional instrumentation will provide the following:

 

1. Temperature of water to the SWHC.
2. Temperature of water from the SWHC.
3. GPM flow rate of water to SWHC.

 

First the instrumentation will be for testing and balancing the PV panel and SWHC operations. Then system performance will be tested once a day for 3 months. Eventually automation of the instrumentation data collection will be provided.

 

The purpose of the demonstration project is to show that there are mechanical systems that can benefit from PV arrays even when the facility is connected to the power company grid. This project’s system would become an attractive economic alternative if the operation of the PV panels and SWHC system can be shown to work together.

 

This distributed generation type of system would lend itself to Performance Contract type projects. The capital costs for this type of project will be reduced because of less BOS and pump/collector control costs. Therefore, operating and maintenance costs will be less as the systems will not have electrical conversion efficiency losses and controls maintenance costs.

 

I agree to provide written reports to TUV-PTL describing the status of this project 90 days and 12 months after receipt of the PV panels.

 

Please see the attached manufacturers literature describing the power requirements of 377 Watts for the 24 VDC pump/motor. This project will provide data showing the systems performance during the 6.5 hours of prime insolation hours here in Phoenix, AZ and the shoulder hours when insolation levels are lower.

 

 

 

January 2002 GHS PHYSICS CLUB

Gilbert High School

The purpose of this Physics club project is to successfully compete in the SRP Enviro-Tech competition which is the Solar Splash 2002 this year, and to learn about many physics principles in a real-world application, and to help in the battle to reduce air polution. We desire to specifically learn about PV technology as it relates to powering vehicles. The competition involves designing and constructing an electric boat that runs on solar power. The design uses two 12 Vdc Lead Acid batteries that are tied together in series to provide a system voltage of 24 V.

 

We will use the PV panels to recharge the batteries between competitions and to specifically run the electric motor with the batteries during an "endurance" event. The PV modules will be wired in series to provide a nominal voltage above 24V and then this array will wire to another array which we have in parallel to maximize the current available from the combined arrays. The array will wire directly to a 24 V battery system through an appropriate diode protected circuit.

 

Item # Task Status 1

 

System design...................... Oct-Nov 2001 2

 

Construction......................... Dec 2001-Jan 2002 3

 

Testing................................. Feb 2002 4

 

Competition.......................... March 20-23, 2002 5

 

On Display............................ Currently 6

 

Future Projects..................... Sept 2003