Setting up the rest of the micro-grid

After making the distribution box the next step was to bolt the solar panels to the roof. We used the same mounting system that we prototyped in Lwemodde since we have had no issues since. Obama Jr., the building king, went back onto the roof with me and there were no damages except for a few dents on the roof. Alex was completely new to all of this and so he had to be taught as well.

Junior explains to Alex how the mounting system will work.

Obama marks where the holes will go.

Alex and Junior were a good team.

Junior is doing something...although I am not sure what.

We got tired on the roof and so we had supplies brought up. Half a pineapple each. (For the record., Ugandan pineapple is extremely tasty.)

We ran out of washers but bottle caps were a great replacement.

On the roof. 

200 W of solar panel now on the roof. Obama was quite happy with the job.

Next we wired up the solar charge controllers. We use one for each panel since they are rated for 6 A each and we expect 5-6 A from a single solar panel at full power. Both of these are connected in parallel to the battery terminals and the load so that we have the same energy flow as in the Lwemodde system but with twice the power.

The two charge controllers and on the right are some sugar cube connectors which will take all the return wires from our grid.

The overall power house at the moment. Distribution box with fuses in top right, load box below that with phone chargers attached, control box on the left.

Our biggest challenge with all of this is to teach Alex, the man in charge of this system, all the things he needs to know to make it run smoothly. The other members have been learning well because we have now had 4 weeks with them but Alex has really just been involved since the start of the week so he is climbing a very steep learning curve. To help with this we got some of the members to teach Alex some skills. Since they can all speak Luganda fluently this is definitely the fastest way to transfer knowledge. The first lesson he got from them was given by Bbaale who taught him good soldering technique.

Bbaale teaches Alex good soldering technique.

Alex takes notes.

As we started wiring the system we also realized that there were going to be a jungle of wires coming out from our station. The best thing to keep this ordered should be a map of the village with the clients and wires marked accurately. Hopefully this keeps things in order.

Lydia and Junior walk around Malembo to draw a map.

By the end of the day we were wired up as a power station and all we needed were the fuses to connect people, the lights and light sockets. We had to choose between which LED lamps to use. There was a discussion to decide if we go with the 10,000 UGX dimmer light which draws only 135 mA or the 16,000 UGX brighter light which takes 200 mA. We ended up going with the cheaper light. In terms of our available funds this makes more sense especially since we can load more lights onto this system with their lower current consumption. Although this light was dimmer it was decided that it was still bright enough for most people. If people want they can get two lights.

The light we chose. It is an array of many LEDs.

Tomorrow we will get the first clients signing the contracts we have been drafting and then connect them. It is an exciting time.