Solar power: Kenya prepares to expand solar mini-grids into poorest rural
Category: Solar Energy News
There is a common belief that Nigerian’s lack a maintenance culture and that is reflected in the cars, homes our roads and infrastructure.
The reality is that government officials see more profit in awarding new contracts than in a long term maintenance agreement. The wealthy in Nigeria like their counterparts the world over place a premium on preventive maintenance and repairs.
AWPS offers a service / maintenance agreement. You have invested a premium in your premium solar power system and you need it to last years. You need it to continue to provide service year in year out.
Enjoy pictures of before and after service performed by our team at AWPS Renewable Energy. The service is designed to keep your investment running at peak efficiency.
Have you serviced your solar power system? Call us for today +234 1 888 1040
A new report,
PATH TO PROGRESS
Hours-long daily blackouts ended suddenly last October after an engineer approached the problem differently
Harmattan is a dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind which blows from the Sahara Desert over the West African subcontinent into the Gulf of Guinea between the end of November and the middle of March. (Wikepedia)
The effect is reduced visibility and a lot of dust. Everything is covered in a very fine layer of dust. You cars, your homes, skin, plants and solar panels.
The dust on your solar panels can reduce performance by up to 50%. What this means is that if you have 2000 watt in panels, the dust has reduced them to about 1000 watts. When you factor losses from cables, haze, the position of the sun, inverter or controller efficiency, that number drops to about 600 watts. Your 2000 watt in panels is now the equivalent of 600 watts. If you have an extra large array then it might not be as drastic. Most people barely have large enough an array.
Your batteries are not charging fast enough because your system is not producing enough current to charge them. Your are unhappy because you think you have been sold a dud. You are spending money running your generator to charge your batteries. Your neighbors are wondering why the man with solar is suddenly running his generator.
The solution is very simple. Clean the panels. Our batteries have been struggling to get past 25.3 all week. The first day after we cleaned our panels we saw 28 V (Batteries go through thee cycles. Bulk, Absorbtion and Float charge). We have only seen bulk over the last 5 days. Tomorrow we will see the absorbtion and the float cycle because of our clean panels.
Yesterday our technicians cleaned solar
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said that that the nation
IMAGE: JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES
BY MARIA GALLUCCI JAN 01, 2017
Costa Rica ended 2016 on a particularly green note.
The Central American nation ran entirely on renewable energy for more than 250 days last year, the country’s power operator announced.
Renewables supplied about 98.1 percent of Costa Rica’s electricity for the year, the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) said in mid-December. Fossil fuels provided the remaining 1.9 percent.
The country of 4.9 million people gets most of its electricity from large hydropower facilities, which are fed by multiple rivers and heavy seasonal rains.
Geothermal plants and wind turbines are also prominent sources of power, while biomass and solar power provide a tiny but growing share of electricity.
A few diesel-burning power plants round out the electricity mix, but Costa Rica has barely used them in the last two years.
The country enjoyed a 110-day stretch of carbon-free electricity from June 17 through Oct. 6, when the power company briefly turned on its fossil fuel plants. After that blip, Costa Rica resumed its run of consecutive, fossil fuel-free days, a spokesman for ICE told Mashable on Dec. 13.
In 2015, Costa Rica used 98.9 percent renewable energy, slightly more than 2016’s expected total.
Compared to larger, more industrialized countries, Costa Rica seems like a verdant gem amid a pile of black coal rocks.
But Costa Rica’s smaller economy and natural resources give it an advantage over an energy-hungry powerhouse like the United States.
Costa Rica’s population, for instance, is roughly 65 times smaller than the U.S.’s. It also generates about 373 times less electricity than the United States does, according to national energy data from both countries.
Given its huge energy appetite, the U.S. faces a bigger challenge in greening the electric grid.
Nearly 15 percent of the U.S. electricity supply for January-October 2016 came from hydropower, wind, solar and other renewable sources, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Dec. 23.
Coal and natural gas together accounted for nearly two-thirds of U.S. electricity generation over that period. Nuclear power provided the remaining 19 percent.
For Costa Rica, the clean energy success story is likely to continue into 2017.
ICE’s president Carlos Manuel Obreg
Categories
Customer Testimonial
We called some of our customers over the last two days to gauge how they are doing and how their investments were performing.
Read some of the responses below.
- Mrs A. Lawanson- happy about our investment, appreciates our service.
- Mr. E. Surulere – the system has been working better since your company came on board although due to the weather production from the panel has reduced as was mentioned by Chris in his mail. I want you to come and clean my panel for me, how much will it cost me. I have been talking about your company to a couple of friends around me even as far as Calabar but due to the economic situation I hope they will buy with time.
- Mr. O. Magboro – words can’t explain how happy I am about my system, planning to add more panels
- Mr. U. Ajah Crown Estates – yes the system works fine and we have been enjoying our investment.
- Mr. U Ndiolumbe – the system is working well
- Gilat Satcomm – we have not had any problems our customers are happy and so are we. (10 systems)
- Dr O. Onitsha – The system is working perfectly and it has been serving us well
- Mrs O. Sparklight Estate – the experience has been awesome and they will contact us when they need anything.
Does your provider call you to ask how things are going? We have such confidence in the work that we do and yes we call you to ask how it is doing.
When you install quality equipment to meet US and European electrical code you expect good customer experience.
AWPS #1 in customer service
OUR COMMITMENT TO QUALITY REPRESENTS OUR COMMITMENT TO YOU.
While Trump appoints climate deniers.
JAMES WESTJAN. 5, 2017 12:26 PM Mother Jones
President-elect Donald Trump has called climate change a hoax created by the Chinese. The Chinese disagree
I am very excited to wish you all a happy New Year. If you are reading this email today, it means that we are both celebrating life. And with life comes hope.
Nigeria has been in a recession driven by a fall in oil prices since 2015. The recession was masked by the massive amount of cash that was injected into the system in 2015. In 2016 the effects of the recession became more pronounced as that cash dried up. Consumer prices rose when the CBN removed the unsustainable peg of the Naira to the dollar. The effect has been inflationary and that is also reflected in the prices we pay for material. Batteries we purchased for N55000 in 2015 cost us almost N140,000 in 2016. Solar panels we paid N40,000 now cost over N75,000. For the average Joe, incomes did not rise to meet prices.
2017 is more promising. Oil prices have rebounded from a low of $30 per barrel to over $55.00. The CBN and the finance ministry seems to have come up with a more meaningful policy of defending the Naira. Increases in tariffs on items that can be domestically manufactured and a reduction in tariffs on items related to power and manufacturing.
Prices for our Batteries and Inverters should hold steady in 2017.
A few days ago, I asked a team member this question. “If I gave you a choice between a Mercedes Benz E300 and a Hyundai Genesis which would you pick?” He said the Mercedes Benz. I asked why? And he went on to describe the ownership experience. I asked if he had ever owned a Mercedes Benz? He said no. Mercedes Benz has done a fantastic job of building a brand that is synonymous with durability, luxury and quality. Just ask people who have never owned one. 
After much soul searching, we have continued to emulate the Mercedes Benz model. When we first came into this business, we decided from day one to elevate the experience and the product. You had to feel good about using our offering. We had to provide strong customer service and a long term service agreement. To achieve this goal we have consistently bench marked each installation and each user experience. We make sure every installation we do, meets US or European electrical code.
In 2016 we chose one supplier to provide the Inverters and charge controllers. Schneider Electric. 160000 plus employees, 170 years plus history, 25 billion Euro in annual turnover. The clincher was factory support in Nigeria. We did not need to go to Europe, USA, China or India to get warranty support. They also give you a minimum of a 2 year warranty.
Our offerings are like owning a Mercedes Benz C class and on the higher end the E class. Our installation crew have improved the experience to match the experience. A survey is sent out after each client contact. In the survey you are asked to rate the contact and experience with our team, your experience with the product and your likely hood to refer your friends and family. The results have been consistently very good.
We have also increased the content in our products. In 2015 you got 1 kw in panels, 245 AH in batteries, a generic charge controller of 30 to 60 amps. Today the minimum is 1.2 kw in panels, a 60 amp Schneider MPPT controller as the entry level product. Our most popular offering gives you 1.8 kw in panels, 490 AH in batteries with a 60 amp Schneider MPPT controller all tied to the Schneider Conext SW. This allows to you to expand at a later date. We can charge your batteries up to 50% faster than our competitors thanks to this combination
The batteries are still made in the USA and in 2016 we used batteries made by US Battery Mfg. They have been making batteries since 1926. In our field experience and from our service visits, they used much less water and the equalization voltage was lower than the Trojan batteries we used in 2015. They seen to be similar in every other characteristic. They both will last 3 x longer than what the competition offers.
The constant improvements is why Gilat Satcomm of Israel chose us over the competition to be their solar power partner in Nigeria. It is also why more than 90% of our installations are still working today.
2017 is a breakout year for us. Our investors have been very patient and they will see the dividends of their patience.
If you have been sitting on the sideline, this is the best time to purchase your solar power. You will join a growing legion of folks that save more than 80% on fuel costs.
To buy today send an email to info@atlanticwastepower.com or call +234 1 888 1040
HAPPY 2017 to you and your loved ones.