Wednesday, July 04, 2007 7:31 AM

Rwanda Report #1 – Solar Powered Health Center in Bigogwe Rwanda

. . . . I only saw two poles sticking out of the ground instead of the four I expected. But I did see a big hole in the ground and there was a person down inside of it. He wasn’t digging and didn’t have a shovel. . . . . He was hewing the hole out of solid volcanic rock, by hand. He . . . . unfurled a tape measure and stuck it into the hole. One hundred eighty centimeters. “Only 20 more to go,” he says.

Greetings from Rwanda, Africa!!

This is the first of the solar reports from Brad Burkhartzmeyer and Susannah Nuriel who are currently working in Rwanda for the Solar Electric Light Fund, a non-profit based in Washington, D.C., who is installing photovoltaic systems on four hospitals and 11 health centers in Rwanda. (see self.org)

Today I’m writing you from Bigogwe a little town of 20,000 people spread along the highway just below the Volcanoes Nat’l Park in the northwestern corner of Rwanda. A few buildings near the main road have power here, but only 5% of homes in this area have electricity. And I think even less have running water.

Our team of 11 Rwandan technicians, a driver, and myself arrived here Saturday afternoon about 2 pm and unloaded all our equipment for a 2 Kilowatt photovoltaic system and other wiring we are to install over the next four days at the local health center. The “boys” quickly sorted the material, installing the plywood backing or the solar inverters and chargers, and ran “homerun” wires to various rooms of the health center.

Moses, our driver and all-around-logistics man, negotiated food and lodging with some local folks. Nobody had food available for a dozen hungry men that first night, so we headed into the nearest town of Gesenyi about an hour away for a buffet of French fries, yams, rice, peas, and roast beef for about 1,500 Rwandan Francs (US$3.00) per head. The beer was about 700 FrR (US$1.50).

It’s Sunday now, a day of rest for our crew, so I have time to write a little. My lodgings here in Bigogwe happen to be in a brand spanking new house that is a one kilometer walk through rolling fields of crops and volcanic rocks and frozen lava waves. Brand spanking new, but no electricity or running water. We have candles and flash lights, and I’ve hooked the computer up to one of the batteries we will use for the installation and have a little 175 watt xantrex inverter connected to it so I can use the computer. We have a cell phone type internet connection plugged into the computer. It is good because we have internet access, but it is so slow it takes five minutes to download a basic email. Some of the crew lodging here with me, others are in a local guest house five kilometers down the road.

It is so lush and green surrounding this house. I see huge flowers that look like tulips growing in bush form (Susannah would be able to tell what they are, but she ditched me when her park permit came through to go to the National Park and see the gorillas – of Gorilla’s in the Mist fame) that the green and yellow hummingbirds are feasting upon. I can see corn, potatoes, beans, goats, cows, and both mountains and active volcanoes as I look out the windows. It is incredibly fertile.

Somehow I thought it would be different. Here are some other things that surprise me:

Mild temperatures. High about 80 degrees F with lows around 50 at night. I thought we were going to be in jungle heat, but we are in a fertile hilly area about 80 miles south of the equator and at an elevations of 4000 feet. It is “winter” here now. This is not the Savannah or the Sahara. Heavy, dense population. Almost everywhere you look you see houses and people. Almost all of the land is being cultivated; even the very steep hillsides are intensely cultivated with basic crops fight up to the top. Not much forest area. Few mosquitoes. I thought we would be eaten alive by mosquitoes, but I have only put on repellent a couple of times in the evening in the ten days since we have arrived here. Cell phones. Everyone has a cell phone, and many people have two of them so if one service doesn’t have coverage the other will. They do not have a bank account, but do have a cell phone. I’m on the net using a cell phone connection.

What are we doing here anyway?

A non-profit called ICAP, who tests for AIDS and does educational work surrounding AIDS has asked SELF, with its expertise and experience in solar power, to provide enough power and lights at health centers(fifteen total, though I will only be involved with five or so) in western Rwanda to conduct same day blood testing as well as provide the electricity needed for educational videos and computers.

Here at the health center in Bigogwe we will install 26 fluorescent lights and electrical outlets for a vaccine refrigerator, computer, audio-video equipment, centrifuges and microscopes used in testing blood.

The health center has ten main buildings made out of brick and covered with a metal roof. How much sun do we need to power this center you may ask? We are going to use fourteen 165 watt solar panels for this installation mounted on four separate poles. I’ll get into the specifics of the panels, combiners, chargers, and inverters in a later report.

I just have to talk about the poles, or more specifically the holes the poles go into.

SELF had contracted with a local construction company to install three 4” steel poles and one 2”steel pole prior to our arrival at each site. When we pulled up to the site here in Bigogwe I only saw two poles sticking out of the ground instead of the four I expected. But I did see a big hole in the ground and there was a person down inside of it. He wasn’t digging and didn’t have a shovel. He had a 10 kilogram (22 pound, and no I am not exaggerating) short-handled sledge hammer and a steel wedge. He was hewing the hole out of solid volcanic rock by hand. He was literally in over his head and the hole was at least a meter wide as well. His helper unfurled a tape measure and stuck it into the hole. One hundred eighty centimeters. “Only 20 more to go,” he says.

By Monday they had the hole finished and the poles set in concrete and backfilled with volcanic rock. We’ll be setting our racks up on the poles and mounting the panels on them on Tuesday.

Please send questions and comments as we are always open to hearing from you.

Please use this address for emails btburk@yahoo.com

Keep shining,

Brad Burkhartzmeyer, on assignment in Rwanda.

Sunday, July 08, 2007 8:58 AM

Rwanda Report #2 – Busasamana – God’s Bed Powered by the Sun!!

Greetings from Rwanda, Africa!!

This is the second of the solar reports from Brad Burkhartzmeyer and Susannah Nuriel who are currently working in Rwanda, Africa for the Solar Electric Light Fund, a non-profit based in Washington, D.C., who is installing photovoltaic systems on four hospitals and 11 health centers in Rwanda. (see self.org)

Part 1: Overview

(Sorry no photos this time, too poor of internet connection, rejects my attachments or crashes.)

Tomorrow we will make the final connections and testing of the third 2000 watt solar electric system our team of 14 has installed, this one on a health center in Busasamana, Rwanda, Africa.

Busasamana means “the place where God makes his bed,” in the local Kinyarwanda language (of which I speak about six words on a good day). This rural health center is located 12 miles north of the resort town of Gesenyi on Lake Kivu in northwestern Rwanda. It’s not often you can solarize god’s bed!

Yes, only 12 miles from town, but a rough one-and-a-half hour drive for all of us packed in our Toyota Land Rover. First we pass along banana groves on dirt roads, then bounce up the bumpy slopes of volcanic rock and lava flows to a valley about 5000 feet above sea level that has rich volcanic soil. We pass field of onion, cabbages, beans, corn, and Irish potatoes en route to the bright blue buildings of the health center.

One of the main reasons for the solar systems we are installing on the health centers is to power equipment that can do “same day” blood tests for HIV. This means samples do not have to be sent off to the big city for the tests and saves the local people another expensive trip to the health center. Folks can get their tests, results, and medications with one trip to the health center.

The systems are being installed by SELF (Solar Electric Light Fund) for ICAP, a non-profit promoting AIDS testing, treatment, and education, working with Columbia University. I am here working for SELF to make sure that the solar systems get installed at the several of the health centers. Funding has been provided for 15 installations, I will be overseeing about five of them and will be reviewing some of the other systems with the project director of SELF during the latter half of July.

Part 2: For You Technical Solar Type – THE SYSTEM

Those of you who are not into the numbers and technical aspects of solar systems may want to skip over this rather esoteric section. (Pretty fancy word, huh?)

We are installing a 2000 watt, off-grid, battery based solar electric system at this health center. We are assuming about 8000 watt hours of daily electricity needs for the health center and will be wiring the a.c. 230 volt lights and outlets to our system as well.

We are installing Solar World 165watt, 24 volt nominal panel, with 4.74 Imp current. We mount a total of 14 of these on four separate poles, wire two panels in series so we have seven strings at 48 volts each. We bring each of these seven strings into a combiner box mounted on one of the poles and run two circuits down the pole and into our control room. One of our circuits is 14.22 amps and the other is 18.96 amps, both at 48 volts.

Each of these PV circuits passes thru a 50 amp dc breaker and into a TriStar 45 amp charge controller then onto the battery cables. We have 20 MK 12-volt gel batteries wired into five groups of four so we have a 48-volt nominal battery bank. The two 4/0 battery cables in parallel go thru a fuse to protect the batteries and cable and then go thru a 125 amp dc breaker.

From there we go to two Outback FX3048 inverters (3000 watts, 48-volts dc in, 230 volt ac out) which will each deliver about 13.66 amps of 230 volt, single phase power to our loads.

We are wiring about 25 fluorescent lights (between 11 watt and 40 watt depending on the room) and about six outlets for medical equipment, refrigeration, audio/visual education, and a computer.

If I can find a decent internet connection, I will include a drawing of this system that makes it a lot easier to understand.

Part 3 – Some Personal Reflections

The Rwandan crew I am working with is very knowledgeable technically. They’ve been well trained by Walt Ratterman, whom some of you may know from other projects. They have not really needed my knowledge of solar systems. I have more experience in getting wires from point A to point B than most of them – so in this area I have helped.

It seems like I am launching an “expedition” every four or five days as we move to the next job site. I spend a lot of time finding out where fourteen people can stay and eat in a little town in the middle of nowhere with no electricity and no running water. There may be a local guest house with some beds; we have pitched tents sometimes, and filled up jerry cans of water every day for our use.

Our local staff in the capital of Kigali arranges a cargo truck to come to our site to help us move when we are ready to go to a new location. We load it with enough tools for a dozen electricians, blankets, tents, bottled water, our own wooden scaffolding, water cans, wash basins, circuit breakers, PV panels, batteries, all kinds of wire and cable, light fixtures, staples, drill bits, masonry bits, drills, conduit, anchors, plywood . . You get the picture. We bring every conceivable item needed for the installation – there is no hardware store to run to if we forget a part.

Before arriving here I thought I’d be working with a couple of local solar guys installing a couple lights and plugs from a couple of solar panels in a little building (hut?) in the jungle. That just shows what my own biases are. These health centers usually consist of 10 buildings spread around a main courtyard with a maternity wing, a pharmacy, administration, kitchen, maintenance, etc.

This is a very heavily populated country (near 9 million, in a place smaller than Maryland or Scotland) that is spread all along little dirt roads in rural areas. People want a little land to grow food on. So they have built health centers in very remote, yet populated areas.

Very few people have cars, let alone electricity (5%?), or water. Life expectancy is 45 for women and 42 for men.

Please send questions and comments as we are always open to hearing from you.

Please use this address for emails btburk@yahoo.com

Keep shining,

Brad Burkhartzmeyer, on assignment in Rwanda.

Monday, July 16, 2007 6:04 AM

Rwanda Report #3 – Ramba – The 998th Hill

Greetings from Rwanda, Africa!!

This is the third of the solar reports from Brad Burkhartzmeyer and Susannah Nuriel who are currently working in Rwanda, Africa for the Solar Electric Light Fund, a non-profit based in Washington, D.C., who is installing photovoltaic systems on four hospitals and 11 health centers in Rwanda. (see self.org)

I thought we were off the beaten track on the last place. This time we bounced up a rutted “road” for nearly 3 hours after we had left the highway. Upwards, and upwards, until the banana trees give way to the pine and cedar. This place called Ramba in central Rwanda means “long life.” I can believe it as we are at about 5000 feet above sea level and only 80 miles south of the equator, yet the high today is only 70 degrees and sunny. The climate here keeps on impressing me.

People here say Rwanda is the country of a thousand hills. It is true, I haven’t really seen a flat piece of ground in several weeks. I joked with the guys on our crew that we traveled 997 of the hills to get to Ramba, which is on the 998th hill in Rwanda. It’s way out in the hills where most people have not seen the amenities of the big city. The people here are very reserved and respectful of our crew and of me. There is no power here and the possibility of getting power here from the grid any time soon is very slim since this place is really remote and not important economically

One of the self appointed tasks I like to do is install the red tape over the black battery cables (only the one’s we will be use for the positive wire). This color coding makes installing easier and less confusing. Plus it involves no heavy lifting and very little technical thinking! I sit on a chair out in the sun someplace and start taping. It’s a one to two hour job. This usually fascinates the kids. Oh wow look at this! A white dude, in a big hat, putting red tape on big black cables. As a white man around here you often feel like you are on stage. People watch every move you make. You walk, you stand, you talk, you work – no matter what – you are surrounded by staring people. They had never seen tape like this before. I asked them if they wanted to help me, but they declined -- saying, “We’ve never done anything like that before, we wouldn’t know how. I even tried to show them how, but they really didn’t want to get close to this project. I gave the kids the cardboard center role left after the tape is used. What a prize! They held races by rolling them down the health centers ramps.

This health center at Ramba is on top of a tall hill, which affords a 330o degree view to crop covered hills trailing off into the distance. It is clean and fresh here at this altitude and place. We pulled in here last night after dark and unloaded our materials and tools. The health center staff gave us a couple of big rooms in one of the buildings and some “mattresses” for sleeping and then about 10 pm finally served a meal. There are no stores, restaurants, or hotels around here. Let alone power and water so we will rely on the local folks to provide us with food and lodgment (as it is called here) It is always a big event when we show up in town so lots of people just come out to watch us work. Some people stay the whole day. I suggested we set up chairs and sell popcorn. The boys thought this was the funniest thing they ever heard.

I’m going to try to include a few photos this time.

As always, please write with any questions or comments. It is always great to hear from you.

Keep shining,

Brad Burkhartzmeyer, on assignment in Rwanda

Tuesday, July 17, 2007 12:29 AM

Rwanda Report #4 - Gold in Rwanda!

Greetings from Rwanda, Africa!! This is the fourth of the solar reports from Brad Burkhartzmeyer and Susannah Nuriel who are currently working in Rwanda, Africa for the Solar Electric Light Fund, a non-profit based in Washington, D.C., who is installing photo-voltaic systems on four hospitals and 11 health centers in Rwanda. (see self.org)

Part 1 – Dance Contest: The prize is Agachupa.

As you walk down the streets the kids shout out, “Agachupa, agachupa,” which means water bottle, water bottle. They want you to give them your water bottle. So . . .

After finishing our last installation we had time to kill while waiting for the truck to show up to move our stuff to the next health center. Maurice, (our lead technician, who has installed about a dozen solar systems and has a Bachelor of Science degree in physics) decided to hold a dance contest for the kids that gather to watch us work.

“Who wants to dance for agachupa?” About twenty kids in their early teens stepped forward. Maurice lined them up in a row on the grass in front of the health center and the fun began. One kid had a big tin coffee can to which he had hooked up a string and a curved stick. He could actually get a tune going by twanging the string and moving the stick just right. Soon people were stomping out a rhythm and clapping up a storm. Kids got into the dancing! About every five minutes Maurice would halt the music and dismiss half of the kids from the contest.

Soon only two were left. One got the robot moves going strong while the other did backwards walkovers and crab like moves. Tough choice, but the robot dude won. He got a full bottle of water.

People love to sing, dance, and talk. Especially talk. I have noticed with our crew as we travel between health centers. When we all pile in our tough Toyota Land Cruiser (this is not the cushy automatic transmission, quad speaker type you see advertised on TV, but a really tough all terrain, no nonsense, off road rig) the boys never shut up. They talk non-stop the from the minute the door close to we arrive. For a while I thought the engine was connected to their tongues. Everyone participates and it gets animated! I don’t understand a lot of it, but there are lots and lots of stories about what happened today and who said what and how things got twisted and confused and how we could twist and confuse things more if we wanted. Just about any event is fair game to see who can make it funny or interesting. Their take: “ We have no TV and the radio reception is bad, and it gets dark at 6:30 year round, so we have to entertain ourselves at night. We have a lot of word games.”

Part II – The cardboard Box.

The other item of Gold around here is the cardboard box. When we unpack the OutBack inverters and other boxes from their cardboard boxes we get people lining up to ask if they can have the boxes. Even the hospital administrator and some of the doctor's have asked if they can have the boxes that we don’t need. If you give a kid a box about the size of a shoe box, they take off running to show mama at home.

Part III – What are these Health Centers Like?

There are regular nursing staff who often are housed near the health centers. Most of the health centers have one doctor that comes at least a couple of days a week. These health centers are built and run by the government. I'm actually surprised at how big they are and how many there are - and that they are built in very remote places to serve the local population. there is not much in the way of health insurance so you must pay as you go. One of our guys had a skin infection on his nose and face and got a consult and some medicine at one of these health centers. It cost 1100 Francs Rwandan (about US$ 2.25) total. So it is cheap and heavily subsidized by the government.

How much does it cost?

One of the questions I get asked the most is how much people get paid and how much things cost in Rwanda. A technician working for the government as a health center electrician earns about RwF 200,000 per month (US$ 370.00/month) a nurse working at the health center will earn less, like RwF 50,000 to 90,000 per month (US$ 92.00 to 160.00 per month). An accountant working at a bank in the capital earns about RwF 400,000 per month (US$ 740.00/month).

Day labor for ditch digging or loading or unloading the trucks earn about RwF 2000 per day or US$ 3.70/day.

A gallon of gas costs US$ 4.69, so it is very expensive here, electricity cost about US$ 0.25 per kilowatt hour, a coca-cola costs about US$ 0.40 per bottle not including the deposit on the bottle. A buffet style restaurant for lunch costs about US$ 3.50 per person or RwF1800.

Send a note to us with any questions or news you have. It is always good to hear from you.

Keep Shining,

Brad Burkhartzmeyer, on assignment in Rwanda

Monday, July 30, 2007 10:12 AM

Rwanda Report #5 - Heading home, thanks

Greetings from Rwanda , Africa !! This is the fifth of the solar reports from Brad Burkhartzmeyer and Susannah Nuriel who are currently working in Rwanda , Africa for the Solar Electric Light Fund, a non-profit based in Washington , D.C. , who is installing photo-voltaic systems on four hospitals and 11 health centers in Rwanda (see self.org)

We finished up the wiring at the health center in Ramba. We bounced back down the hills for a few hours to get back to the first hospital I had helped wire in Kabaya. What did we find there? This was the only grid connected place we worked on and the grid had been down now for four days. Were the hospital staff in a panic, NO . . . They had a solar system with batteries for back-up.

We found the hospital running “as usual.” The labs and computers were on and functioning at full strength. The battery voltage read 52.4 volts (well with in the norm for this 48-volt nominal system). The maintenance guy told us he ran the generator to charge the batteries up yesterday when it was cloudy out. We were pleased with what we found, the hospital was pleased that the system worked so well. It made our day!

The project was complete. We headed back to the capital of Kigali , congratulated our team on finishing under-budget, and ahead of schedule. (This is quite a feat in the developing world and much of the credit goes to Walt Ratterman for getting the project set up and the teams well trained. I had it easy coming in after the project was already underway.) I spent a few days doing inventory of our tools and stock and scheduled a flight home. It is more than two weeks ahead of schedule. It is great to actually do a project on-time, and under budget. They sent me home then.

SELF’s project director is flying in to inspect all of the health centers and their wiring with some of the funders and health care officials. I hope they find all in order.

I did get a few days to go on a mini safari in eastern Rwanda . See the attached photos of zebra, and giraffes.

Now, I am actually back in Tacoma enjoying the summer weather and getting back into the groove of things.

Thanks for your interest and support during our adventure to solarize health centers in Rwanda . We hope to be able to do it again soon.

As always, your comments and email are welcome.

Keep shining,

Brad Burkhartzmeyer, formerly on assignment in Rwanda

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 10:15 AM

Two photos from game park

Couple of photos from the game park. I tried to recruit the giraffe to help with pole mounted solar installations. He is checking with his agent and will get back to us . . .

Brad Burkhartzmeyer