Installing Solar Panel and Windmill System Together

How do I start this paper? Most of my friends know that I have deep passion for technology and complex problems solving but not many of them will imagine me installing a solar panel and a windmill system together in Liberia. Most time if I am not writing some computer codes or playing around with new technology vSphere, etc, I must be playing video game to be specific “Fifa 14” -- which my lovely wife can sometime practically shut down to game for us to go to bed.

This time around, I am not doing any of those – I am caught up trying to set up a solar panel and a windmill system for one of my company’s clients who for non-disclosure reasons I am not going to mention.

Here is the exact scenario:

We are to install a wireless radio and a CCTV in the middle of the water on a 10 feet wide rocks unleveled surface. The distance from this island is approximately three miles from land. There is no electricity to power the wireless radio and the CCTV – that is why we introduced the solar panel at first. Because the devices have to be powered on 24x7x365 and knowing Liberia especially during the raining season, we figured out that with just the solar panel, we won’t have 24x7x365 power availability. Therefore, we decided to introduce the windmill system since we had sufficient breeze at the location – we shouldn’t have that much problem.

The interesting part is that not a single member on my team has install a solar panel or windmill before but we all have a common belief which is “we can do it”. We did the assessment and we came up with the design. We ordered the equipment for both the solar and the windmill but first we need to worry about so many things.

The galvanize pole that the solar panel will be mounted on should be strong enough to hold it and keep it in position from the wind since we are not using guy wires. We agreed on a 2.5” galvanize pipe. Later we thought about the enclosure that will keep the batteries and controllers. The enclosure will have to be place on the ground (base) of the pole. Thinking about it and knowing fully well that we are in Liberia and folks over here can steal anything that they can lay their hands on easily, we decided to make a protective cage that is attached to the galvanize pole. We all decided to put lock on it at first but come to think about it and the fact that it will be in the middle of the water, the lock may stick to the cage and we may never be able to do our routine maintenance just in case we need to get into the enclosure. We therefore had to modify our design by introducing a chain around the cage with the lock. The logic here is that if the lock stick, we can always cut the chain and have it replaced with a new chain and lock. That design was satisfactory to us and we approved it for production. The fascinating part of our work is that we only design the components and send it for manufacturing. Because the guys over here are not hard-core engineers, we have to manage the manufacturing process by constant visit and supervision. If you don’t, they may just spoil that important piece and that will add some unnecessary delay to the project.

Now that the poles and cages are manufactured, it is getting towards time for us to first open these giant size boxes to actually see the equipment for the first time since it arrived. My boss and myself usually joke each other during this time of the project that if it doesn’t fit or if we forget about something or if we got something wrong during the design. All the “IF ELSE” statements can be running into our heads. We quickly try to make sure that all those “IF ELSE” are answered before we take the equipment to the client site. Due to our overly busy schedule, we decided to take a look at the equipment on a holiday. We arranged with our most reliable office assistant who came to work on the holiday to be with us as we try to assemble the solar system or at least figure out all the “IF ELSE” and to make sure that we have all the necessary components and if not – how do we get it? Our biggest fear was that we should not miss anything that we will have to order from oversea since not many flights coming to Liberia during this time of Ebola. We held our breath as we look at the component one by one and luckily, everything seems to be correct though there are few things that we might check for in the local market like the protective wires, fuse, auto switch and water pvc. Those things lacking, we are very sure that we can find it in the local market so it is not a big worry for us right now.

After looking at all the components and figuring out what is lacking – it is now time to conceptualize how all the components will work together. Had to get back to the drawing board with some horrible drawing. We spent about 4 hours trying to conceptualize the system and; bingo my boss saw a potential problem. As usual, he will say “my man” in the Liberian way; we got a problem. I immediately stopped the drawing with my face in the state of confusion. I asked, what is the problem sir? He said the output for the solar panel and windmill system is 24volts and our cameras are 48volts. That means the current the solar and windmill generates cannot power the camera. I said to myself, what is the point of the solar and windmill? The first thing that came to my mind was that we can always use an inverter – but we may not be able to find it in Liberia and if we decides to order it, it will take at least 3 weeks and with Ebola in Liberia, you never knows. We stuck for a while thinking about possible answers to this problem and it was obvious that there was none. I asked my boss to look at the output controller and surprisingly; my boss was missing the “OR” on the controller. It is written on the output controller 24v or 48v – I don’t know why his eyes only captured the 24v but looking at it with my two eyes (not actually two because I wear glasses) we were able to see the OR 48v. Now there is no need to worry, our problem is solved! Because we were still skeptical of the controller, we decided to check it with the camera and our test was successful. You live and learn. We completed the conceptual design and we pretty much know and understand how the system is expected to work with all the components. We have a list of things to check for in the local market plus a list of things that needs to be manufactured.

We are all set and ready for installation of the system but before that, we need to have the pole mounted in the middle of the water. I am not a civil engineer neither is my boss nor any member on my team but again; we will have to find a solution to that problem. We believe that to every problem there is an awaiting solution.

Watch up for the part two of my article. How we got the pole mounted in the middle of the water on the unleveled rock surface. Just a gist, we will have to transport mixed cement from the land to the middle on the water in a canon since we do not have a proper boat. We have to make arrangement for the fishing canon and together we have to work as a team to get this task done. I shall keep you posted upon completion of this phase before we move to the final phase, which is the actual installation and configuration. In the middle of water, anything can go wrong but safety is our first priority.