Skip to comments.
African Huts Far From the Grid Glow With Renewable Power
NYT ^
| December 24, 2010
| ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Posted on 12/25/2010 3:30:35 PM PST by Pan_Yan
click here to read article
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80, 81-82 next last
1
posted on
12/25/2010 3:30:45 PM PST
by
Pan_Yan
To: Pan_Yan
Drums would be a better way for her.
To: Pan_Yan
Coming to a town near you, if big brother continues this global warming craze.
3
posted on
12/25/2010 3:35:40 PM PST
by
RWB Patriot
("My ability is a value that must be purchased and I don't recognize anyone's need as a claim on me.")
To: Pan_Yan
the family sold some animals to buy a small Chinese-made solar power system for about $80. Good for them! They didn't demand it from their govt for free, nor did they wait for a charity to give it to them.
4
posted on
12/25/2010 3:37:09 PM PST
by
LibFreeOrDie
(Obama promised a gold mine, but will give us the shaft.)
To: Pan_Yan
5
posted on
12/25/2010 3:37:52 PM PST
by
Cisco Nix
(Real Conservatives stay sober and focused)
To: Pan_Yan
Exciting efforts are being made by private businesses around the globe to bring energy resources to rural people in 3rd world countries. I recently joined with a group of Hassidic Jews who are investing in the development of resources to bring power to Indian farmers. More than a million farmers will benefit from these efforts by being able to purchase inexpensive basic technology that will transform their lives.
6
posted on
12/25/2010 3:38:10 PM PST
by
Louis Foxwell
(pka: Amos the Prophet)
To: Pan_Yan
Now balanced precariously atop their tin roof, a lone solar panel provides enough electricity to charge the phone and run four bright overhead lights with switches.
Which is a pretty decent use of the solar energy. Unfirtunately most of us have a much greater use of electricity with far less reliable sunlight available.
Here in Michigan I get some passive solar heating by way of south facing windows and charge a few emergency lights with solar. Unfortunately my use is at its peak for here.
7
posted on
12/25/2010 3:39:49 PM PST
by
cripplecreek
(Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
To: Pan_Yan
What happened to an old hand crank generator for charging a phone? Not sexy eco friendly enough?
8
posted on
12/25/2010 3:40:43 PM PST
by
Truth29
To: Pan_Yan
Buying a cell phone when you have no electricity shows a lack of planning.
9
posted on
12/25/2010 3:40:46 PM PST
by
humblegunner
(Blogger Overlord)
To: Pan_Yan; screaminsunshine; RWB Patriot
Ingenious. But note how the Government aid agencies, big NGO’s and local state-owned power companies are temperamentally disinclined to get involved with little people doing such things privately.
10
posted on
12/25/2010 3:41:28 PM PST
by
sinanju
To: sinanju
Now she can charge her neighbors 40 cents a charge and they will still save money by cutting out the travel.
Jack
11
posted on
12/25/2010 3:44:06 PM PST
by
btcusn
To: Truth29
What happened to an old hand crank generator for charging a phone? I've got a neat all-band radio that will work on solar or on crank.
It came with attachments to fit most cell phones and will crank-or-solar charge them as well.
Thirty bucks.
12
posted on
12/25/2010 3:44:19 PM PST
by
humblegunner
(Blogger Overlord)
To: LibFreeOrDie; Pan_Yan
>
Good for them! They didn't demand it from their govt for free, nor did they wait for a charity to give it to them. Roger that, and I hope they do well with it.
Small-scale solar and wind power works well -- household or farm-size. It has been doing well for a few decades in the case of solar electric, and since the 1940's in the case of wind.
Large-scale solar and wind both have problems, mainly storage because the output varies over the course of the day. For large scale I favor hydro and nuclear, and recognize the necessity of fossil fuels at least for the next few decades until we can start building more nuke plants.
Anyway, my house is off-grid, and I've run on solar (PVs) since 1989. Tonight I'm posting this from that same system. The independence is a positive factor, the lack of a monthly bill is nice, and no power outages. Small-scale renewable rocks.
13
posted on
12/25/2010 3:47:30 PM PST
by
dayglored
(Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!)
To: sinanju
There was an article several years ago about a teenage boy in Malawi who built windmills to power his village. My wife got me the book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, which was very good. Unfortunately, all the do gooders got hold of him and turned him imto a prop for green conventions and international aid. He's attending Dartmouth College now.
14
posted on
12/25/2010 3:49:16 PM PST
by
Pan_Yan
To: Pan_Yan
What powers the cellular signal towers?
She can now become a community organizer, and tell her people how to get stuff from goernments the world over.
Maybe they can use their corn for fuel, instead of eating it.
To: dayglored
Anyway, my house is off-grid ...Good for you! There are plans out there for micro nuclear generators that would power individual neighborhoods. Unfortunately, I don't think the government or the power industry is ready to let go of 'The Grid'.
16
posted on
12/25/2010 3:53:01 PM PST
by
Pan_Yan
To: Pan_Yan
Small scale? Try microscopic. And yet the green idiots think that if we were to go to this it would be all Kum-Bah-Ya for the world.
17
posted on
12/25/2010 3:55:13 PM PST
by
OCCASparky
(Obama--Playing a West Wing fantasy in a '24' world.)
To: btcusn
Now she can charge her neighbors 40 cents a charge and they will still save money by cutting out the travel. Later in the article it says she did just that, and that it has paid for itself in fuel savings. Apparently many of her neighbors now have panels as well. Their biggest problem is establishing a supply chain to provide the units.
18
posted on
12/25/2010 3:55:34 PM PST
by
Pan_Yan
To: truth_seeker
>>>>Maybe they can use their corn for fuel, instead of eating it.
Better yet, after making the ethanol, they can take what’s left, feed it to chickens... harvest the eggs to use for food, and when they burn out laying eggs, eat the damn chicken.
19
posted on
12/25/2010 3:58:44 PM PST
by
Keith in Iowa
(FR Class of 1998 | TV News is an oxymoron. | MSNBC = Moonbats Spouting Nothing But Crap.)
To: screaminsunshine
Drums would be a better way for her. Why the contempt?
20
posted on
12/25/2010 4:03:14 PM PST
by
don-o
(Wait. What?)
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80, 81-82 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson