Tutorial:

IEEE CSI Business Development Workshop

Recent Field Experiences in ZambiaHenry Louie†, Peter Dauenhauer††

†Seattle University††Strathclyde University

OUTLINE

1. SCOPE and GOALS2. PARTNERS3. SYSTEM4. TRAINING5. REPORTING6. PRELIMINARY SURVEY RESULTS

SCOPE and GOALS

• Technology: determine feasibility of micro wind power for sustainable energy poverty relief

• Market Assessment: survey households, existing battery charging entrepreneurs

• Relationship Building: Develop partnership with local NGO

LOCATION• Municipality: Monze, Zambia• Village: Miyoba – 60 Households, 10 km from town (30 min drive)

Wind Turbinelocation

Monze

NGO PARTNER: Diocese of Monze

• Office of Development Promotion– water, agriculture and animal

husbandry

• Focus on Appropriate Technology• Project support– Facilities: Rural Engineering Center– Operator identification– Project “backstop”

OPERATOR BIOGRAPHY

• Mr. George Timba• Age 42, Family of 11• Farmer, Small electrical

system – Yr Income 13.9m ZKW =

~$2,800 USD

• Small cell phone, 12V battery charging business– Yr Income 2.8m ZKW = $560

Micro Wind Power

TECHNOLOGY INSTALLATION TRAINING REPORTING

SYSTEM

Air Breeze 40160W12VDCMicrocontroller

Pre-ExistingNo Nameplate10W (est)

Ecco12VDCVRLA28Ah

Custom MadeAnalog Voltmeter, AmmeterBrake SwitchFuseDisconnect Switch

SYSTEM

Physical Layout

INSTALLATION

• Most materials locally sourced• Three people, three days• Competencies– Basic electrical– Basic mechanical– Basic civil

Major Component CostsComponent Cost (US Equivalent) In Monze?

Wind Turbine US$649 N

Tower Yoke, guy wires US$249 N

Conductors US$252 Y

Tower Pipe US114 Y

Battery US$90 Y

Metering US$50 N

Conduit US$13 Y

Cement US$13 Y

US$1417

TRAINING

DMMUse

Battery Maintenance Reporting

TowerRaise/Lower

Trouble-shooting

Load Energy Use

Turbine Operation

Wind Speed Measurement

LESSONS

• Wind turbine overdesigned for application

• Controller box needs work• Home battery kit desired• More education on battery

care/maintenance• More education on loads

REPORTING

• Objective:–Monitor Wind Turbine Condition– Record Wind Speed data– Record Wind Turbine charging current– Record battery voltage

REPORTING – how?

• Low(-ish) tech : Daily Log Book + Manually Submitted SMS 3 times / day

REPORTING - measurements

0407?0900?4.2?1.2?N?11.8?100?0

Date TimeWind Speed

(Hz)

Wind Turbine Current

External Recharge

Battery Voltage

Battery Being

Charged

Solar Charging Current

3-Jul 16:30 4.8 0.9n 12.66 100 04-Jul 9:00 4.2 1.2n 11.8 100 04-Jul 14:10 4.5 1.4n 12.78 7.2 14-Jul 18:06 0 0.01n 12.4 100 05-Jul 9:29 0 0.01n 12.05 100 15-Jul 15:33 4.1 0.03n 12.42 100 15-Jul 18:55 0 0.01n 12.6 100 06-Jul 14:19 6.2 0.46n 12.62 100 16-Jul 17:36 0 0.01n 13 28 07-Jul 10:00 4.5 0.24n 13.55 28 07-Jul 17:50 0.1 0.01n 13.65 28 07-Jul 18:53 0 0n 13.66 28 08-Jul 9:28 4.5 2n 13.68 28 08-Jul 13:54 0.1 0.01n 13.68 28 0

SAMPLE SMS: 0703?1630?4.8?0.9?n?12.66?100?0

REPORTING – In process

• Using a Cheap $13 Cell Phone

• $1 SIM card + $.10 per SMS

• Total Yearly Cost: $125 USD

• Keeps us in constant contact

REPORTING – unusual reporting items

• Separate SMS if:– Turbine breaks for

any reason– Tower buckles– Major battery

problems– Lightning strikes– Other…

• Response:– First Line of

Defence: User Guide

– Second: contact via Skype to reporting mobile

– Third: NGO Support (Father Bert is a retired EE prof)

REPORTING (pos vs. neg)

Strengths• Easy and cheap to

implement• Limited training

needed• Direct line of contact

with User (reasonable for pilot project)

• Primary (SMS) and backup (Log Book)

Weaknesses• Limited # of

measurements• Limited data categories• Training needed +• Users make mistakes• Not fully synchronized

data: Wind speed/Wind current

• Snapshot, not running total

• Time Consuming?

REPORTING – Improvements for next time

• Robustness:– Synchronized data–More technical data categories (ambient

temp, tower vibration, load current, etc…)

– Additional of non-technical data: (non/)economic use of electricity

– Higher measurement frequencies– Data logging

REPORTING – Improvements for next time

• Automation:– Integration with SMS technology– Integration with online database/analysis

• Process–More regular contact IN-PERSON– Incentivizing?–Measurements to analyze full socio-

economic impact

RISKS

• Technology: battery, turbine, tower failures

• Reporting: intermittent, erroneous, sustainability

• Wind Resource: significantly higher/lower than expected

SURVEY

SURVEY(s)1: Household (HH) Pilot Survey

• Test facilitator-driven household survey in terms of – format, – questions asked,– Time required,– Relevance

• Conducted with around 10 households

2: Basic Market Survey• Answer some basic

market questions:– Prices and quality of

batteries?– Mnth/yr electricity costs

for village HH?– Costs for 12V and cell

phone charging?– Competition

SURVEY – HH Survey components

• Personal/Demographic info• HH Occupational data + income• HH composition• HH Energy Use• HH Cell phone charging freq + cost• HH 12V battery use• HH Power Generation

SURVEY – HH Initial results

• Devices in use at home• Daily usage• Costs for charging those devices –

equivalent to an avg $180/yr• Costs for charging cell phones (avg

$100/yr), 12V Bat. (avg $62/yr)• Household Income (avg $2,313/yr)• Incidence of PV (44%), 12V batteries

(33%)

The Households, the Devices

A few calculations

Miyoba village – 60 HH

• Avg estimated yearly charging costs: $180*60 = $10,800

• # of 12 V batteries: 20• # of cell phones:

Kasiya Village – 85 HH• Avg estimated yearly

charging costs: $180*85 = $15,300

• # of 12 V Batteries: 28

A potential market for renewable energy products?

SURVEY – HH Survey criticisms

• What is purpose of the survey? • Greater quantity (currently only 10

HH)• Emphasis needed on some sort of

statistical significance• Analysis needed of various biases

and how to mitigate

SURVEY – Basic Market Survey

• Question: –What is the cell phone and 12V battery

charging business like in Monze?

• Cell Phones: 2000 ZKW/charge = $0.40

• 12 V bat: 3000 ZKW ($0.60) for 3 hours, 4000 ZKW ($0.80) for 6 hours.

• Source: Primarily grid power

BATTERY CHARGING, cell phone

• Cell Phone charging: villagers come into town (~2 hours each way), charge cell phones while off doing other things.

• Charging period variable, 15 min OR 6 hours – always 2,000 ZKW.

• If connected to grid, or, own a 12v battery, charging done at home

BATTERY CHARGING, 12 v battery

• Only a couple places in town• Highly questionable charging practices:

– Home built XFMRs to step down voltage– No measurements– Overcharging definitely occurs

• Two prices– ~3 hours (regardless of initial V) for 3000 ZKW ($0.60)– ~6 hours (regardless of initial V) for 4000 ZKW ($0.80)

• Customers have very little knowledge of battery care and safe charging practices – black boxes of chems.

BATTERY CHARGING, 12 v battery - Issac

• Charging bus. evolved from auto garage

• Most clientele are villagers, some are city dwellers who use 12v batteries during outages, and around 20% are motor vehicle charges.

• Rainy season (Mar) can be 100 batteries/day. Typical 10-30/day

SURVEY – Approach for building a business plan

• Components will include:– Year-long wind speed data– Potential vs Actual charging– Scoping out pricing for products &

services (have some of this)– Calculating a pay-back period…–… to begin with