Solar Home System Installed In More Than 170,000 Houses In Remote Areas

[ClaudeFeller]

Thin film solar is coming to market now and will shave $2/W off most installations

Where did you read this?

We have one on one piece of land. 125W panel feeding a 12 Volt battery w/ controller for a few 10W bulbs and plugs. After a year the controller started smoking last week and we took it back to the Power Authoity. they said, "yes, the controllers have had many problems, but the chang will be coming to this area in 5-6 months". Fortunately, we just got electric poles installed adjacent to this piece of land and we'll get a meter. I think I'll move the panel elsewhere and put a 12V pump directly on it.

Is this part of the rural electrification program?

If yes: As far as I know you have 2 years of warranty on the controller/inverter and five years on the panels.

And where do you get a 12V pump that runs on solar?

[Gary A]

My wife has a ten rai plot of land that has no electricity. It is scenic, has a pond and fruit trees. I am quite interested in building a getaway cottage on that land. I checked out solar energy companies including Solar Energy Asia and the Thai company that supplies the government with their systems. I was interesting that both companies wanted exactly 180,000 baht for 400 watt systems. I calculated the payback time and it appears it is about 25 years. Of course the systems will not last 25 years, so no payback. Solar energy is a great idea, unfortunately it is still simply too expensive to install.

You should be able to get a free one trom the Thai government. Solartron and the gov have a progran for rural electrification. Solartron's the big winner of course, and whoever they kicked back to. I wouldn't buy one now though. Thin film solar is coming to market now and will shave $2/W off most installations

We have one on one piece of land. 125W panel feeding a 12 Volt battery w/ controller for a few 10W bulbs and plugs. After a year the controller started smoking last week and we took it back to the Power Authoity. they said, "yes, the controllers have had many problems, but the chang will be coming to this area in 5-6 months". Fortunately, we just got electric poles installed adjacent to this piece of land and we'll get a meter. I think I'll move the panel elsewhere and put a 12V pump directly on it.

I asked my wife to call that company. They have service centers spread all over the country so you have to call the one that services your province. If they still have a free program the guy wouldn't volunteer any information. They do have an offer of so much down and so much per month. I forget the down payment but the payment was 2,000 baht per month. According to that service center, all the other programs are finished. ????????

[astral]

Gas (Propane) fridges are usually used on RV's (Caravans). I've never seen an RV or a gas fridge in Thailand.

They actually are less efficient than electric refrigerators, so unless you are off the grid, they aren't any better than standard refrigerators.

Does that efficiency figure take into account the relative costs of gas and electricity?

Note also that we are talking about people who would like to get "off the grid".

[lannarebirth]

Thin film solar is coming to market now and will shave $2/W off most installations

Where did you read this?

It's pretty common knowledge. Plants are opening around the globe producing thin film solar. It appears first applications are in electrical generation facilities and industrial applications, but I would expect retail sales of this stuff is not more than a year or two away. Production has been more than doubling, each of the past couple years. I expect that trend to accelerate. You can check out websites for "FirstSolar" and ""Nanosolar".

We have one on one piece of land. 125W panel feeding a 12 Volt battery w/ controller for a few 10W bulbs and plugs. After a year the controller started smoking last week and we took it back to the Power Authoity. they said, "yes, the controllers have had many problems, but the chang will be coming to this area in 5-6 months". Fortunately, we just got electric poles installed adjacent to this piece of land and we'll get a meter. I think I'll move the panel elsewhere and put a 12V pump directly on it.

Is this part of the rural electrification program?

If yes: As far as I know you have 2 years of warranty on the controller/inverter and five years on the panels.

And where do you get a 12V pump that runs on solar?

Yes, it's part of the Rural Electrification Program. I'm aware of the warranty, but I'm still at their mercy as to them honoring it. My girlfriend now says "maybe next month". Solartron sells a 12V pump, which was part of a Rural Irrigation Program they also were part of. I haven't contacted them about it, so have no details. I think Leonics may sell 12V pumps as well.

http://www.leonics.com/html/en/pd_ecp/pd_e...e.php#solarpump

[lannarebirth]

My wife has a ten rai plot of land that has no electricity. It is scenic, has a pond and fruit trees. I am quite interested in building a getaway cottage on that land. I checked out solar energy companies including Solar Energy Asia and the Thai company that supplies the government with their systems. I was interesting that both companies wanted exactly 180,000 baht for 400 watt systems. I calculated the payback time and it appears it is about 25 years. Of course the systems will not last 25 years, so no payback. Solar energy is a great idea, unfortunately it is still simply too expensive to install.

You should be able to get a free one trom the Thai government. Solartron and the gov have a progran for rural electrification. Solartron's the big winner of course, and whoever they kicked back to. I wouldn't buy one now though. Thin film solar is coming to market now and will shave $2/W off most installations

We have one on one piece of land. 125W panel feeding a 12 Volt battery w/ controller for a few 10W bulbs and plugs. After a year the controller started smoking last week and we took it back to the Power Authoity. they said, "yes, the controllers have had many problems, but the chang will be coming to this area in 5-6 months". Fortunately, we just got electric poles installed adjacent to this piece of land and we'll get a meter. I think I'll move the panel elsewhere and put a 12V pump directly on it.

I asked my wife to call that company. They have service centers spread all over the country so you have to call the one that services your province. If they still have a free program the guy wouldn't volunteer any information. They do have an offer of so much down and so much per month. I forget the down payment but the payment was 2,000 baht per month. According to that service center, all the other programs are finished. ????????

It's possible the program is finished, but we made application through the electric authority and not Solartron, so check there for the final word I think. Thanks for the tip on the regional service centers, The electric authority made no mention of it, and we didn't think to ask. I think I'll check to see if there's one in our area, and maybe speed up this process.

[Johpa]

My wife has a ten rai plot of land that has no electricity. It is scenic, has a pond and fruit trees. I am quite interested in building a getaway cottage on that land. I checked out solar energy companies including Solar Energy Asia and the Thai company that supplies the government with their systems. I was interesting that both companies wanted exactly 180,000 baht for 400 watt systems. I calculated the payback time and it appears it is about 25 years. Of course the systems will not last 25 years, so no payback. Solar energy is a great idea, unfortunately it is still simply too expensive to install.

If the location of the land is not able provide a connection with an electric grid, then the payback time for any alternative method for obtaining power is immediate and 100%.

[batami]

i am in the construction industry in the uk, and the latest thing seems to be the concentration on what is known as renewables.

facinating what they can do with just the natural rescources at our disposal.

for the countries with sun, solar power is definately the way of the future, one instance is the heating of water through solar power and storing that heat in insulated rock forms.

laying a series of pipes under ground to heat superstores [ tescos new builds ] just by laying the pipes in the car park area the water is heated to 48% with no energy used at all.

windy countries, wind turbines, coastal countries wave power.

i would say fair play to the thais for at least exploring these options for the future.

opothai

Can you tell me; when you lay pipes in the car park do you need any special piping or fittings - what to look out for; if I laid them in my drive would it have the same effect - if they were laid in the garden (sy just a few cm below the surface - same efect?? can you use the common blue plastic pipes?

Look forward to your comments

[ClaudeFeller]

It's pretty common knowledge. Plants are opening around the globe producing thin film solar. It appears first applications are in electrical generation facilities and industrial applications, but I would expect retail sales of this stuff is not more than a year or two away. Production has been more than doubling, each of the past couple years. I expect that trend to accelerate. You can check out websites for "FirstSolar" and ""Nanosolar".

...

Yes, it's part of the Rural Electrification Program. I'm aware of the warranty, but I'm still at their mercy as to them honoring it. My girlfriend now says "maybe next month". Solartron sells a 12V pump, which was part of a Rural Irrigation Program they also were part of. I haven't contacted them about it, so have no details. I think Leonics may sell 12V pumps as well.

Thin film: I would like to believe it, but 2 $/W is 66 % less than conventional panels! Maybe "talking for selling".

Solarpumps: We also sell these DC-pumps. Lorentz pumps have a brushless motor, super quality, very expensive (more than 1.000 US)!

Warranty: Please have a look at

http://www.bget.org/index.php?option=com_c...4&Itemid=39

You will find information about how to get warranty service.

Edited October 11, 2007 by ClaudeFeller

[t.s]

Check out www.leonics.com

They are a bangkok company specialiseing in alternative & back up power.

I bought a small system from them last year.

100,000 baht got me:

4 x 50 Watt panels

4 x 12 Volt 100 Ah deep cycle batteries

charge controller

1000 Watt inverter/charger

With this small system I can run stereo, water pump, charge phone & laptop & lots of power saver flourescent bulbs for as long as I like.

What I cant do is run a refrigerator.

So, 100k & you cant run a fridge, with the current low cost of electric in Thailand solar is not economicly viable if you have access to grid power. But I'll continue to do it anyway.

I wouldn't recomend the inverter from Leonics as mine uses 20 w even with no load, there are others available that use less than 5 w on standby. All other equipment has been excellant.

A cheaper source of batteries may be some 6 Volt deep cycle (golf cart) batteries from 3K.

Hope this helps, PM me if you want more info.

when i built a house i tried contacting them for a quote for one of their systems over 10 times. after 2 weeks the rep was ignoring my calls, even though the system i wanted was clearly detailed on the web. i gave up eventually.

[Gary A]

My wife has a ten rai plot of land that has no electricity. It is scenic, has a pond and fruit trees. I am quite interested in building a getaway cottage on that land. I checked out solar energy companies including Solar Energy Asia and the Thai company that supplies the government with their systems. I was interesting that both companies wanted exactly 180,000 baht for 400 watt systems. I calculated the payback time and it appears it is about 25 years. Of course the systems will not last 25 years, so no payback. Solar energy is a great idea, unfortunately it is still simply too expensive to install.

If the location of the land is not able provide a connection with an electric grid, then the payback time for any alternative method for obtaining power is immediate and 100%.

I don't see it that way. I can buy a 5,000 watt generator, a Kubota diesel engine, an inverter and a small bank of deep cycle batteries. The generator will run a water pump to fill a 500 liter tank on a tower besides charging the battery bank on about 2 liters of diesel a day. About two hours run time should be sufficient. No payback there either but a LOT cheaper and a LOT more electricity.

[ClaudeFeller]

My wife has a ten rai plot of land that has no electricity. It is scenic, has a pond and fruit trees. I am quite interested in building a getaway cottage on that land. I checked out solar energy companies including Solar Energy Asia and the Thai company that supplies the government with their systems. I was interesting that both companies wanted exactly 180,000 baht for 400 watt systems. I calculated the payback time and it appears it is about 25 years. Of course the systems will not last 25 years, so no payback. Solar energy is a great idea, unfortunately it is still simply too expensive to install.

If the location of the land is not able provide a connection with an electric grid, then the payback time for any alternative method for obtaining power is immediate and 100%.

I don't see it that way. I can buy a 5,000 watt generator, a Kubota diesel engine, an inverter and a small bank of deep cycle batteries. The generator will run a water pump to fill a 500 liter tank on a tower besides charging the battery bank on about 2 liters of diesel a day. About two hours run time should be sufficient. No payback there either but a LOT cheaper and a LOT more electricity.

With 2 liter of diesel you can generate an average of 3000 Watt (maybe a bit more if the engine is very good). It will cost you 60 Baht per day for diesel, let me add 5 Baht for maintenance, oil, getting the diesel. So you pay more than 20 B per kWh.

Solar generated power is about the same price, if you can use an additional wind generator. it will be cheaper.

Question: You have any idea of the costs for a 5000 W diesel and of the lifetime? Thanks for info.

Claude

[Tywais]

I wouldn't recomend the inverter from Leonics as mine uses 20 w even with no load, there are others available that use less than 5 w on standby.

I just finished designing a standalone fuel cell control system at the university. One of the requirements was to be able to supply 220VAC from the 10-12VDC fuel cell. My solution, took an APC UPS, dismantled it, bypassed some of the electronics and use only the inverter section for my purposes. Static draw is about 5-8 watts.

[Gary A]

My wife has a ten rai plot of land that has no electricity. It is scenic, has a pond and fruit trees. I am quite interested in building a getaway cottage on that land. I checked out solar energy companies including Solar Energy Asia and the Thai company that supplies the government with their systems. I was interesting that both companies wanted exactly 180,000 baht for 400 watt systems. I calculated the payback time and it appears it is about 25 years. Of course the systems will not last 25 years, so no payback. Solar energy is a great idea, unfortunately it is still simply too expensive to install.

If the location of the land is not able provide a connection with an electric grid, then the payback time for any alternative method for obtaining power is immediate and 100%.

I don't see it that way. I can buy a 5,000 watt generator, a Kubota diesel engine, an inverter and a small bank of deep cycle batteries. The generator will run a water pump to fill a 500 liter tank on a tower besides charging the battery bank on about 2 liters of diesel a day. About two hours run time should be sufficient. No payback there either but a LOT cheaper and a LOT more electricity.

With 2 liter of diesel you can generate an average of 3000 Watt (maybe a bit more if the engine is very good). It will cost you 60 Baht per day for diesel, let me add 5 Baht for maintenance, oil, getting the diesel. So you pay more than 20 B per kWh.

Solar generated power is about the same price, if you can use an additional wind generator. it will be cheaper.

Question: You have any idea of the costs for a 5000 W diesel and of the lifetime? Thanks for info.

Claude

The generator will cost about 15,000 baht and the Kubota diesel about 30,000 baht. The engine life before any major maintenance is required is between 3,000 and 5,000 hours. Stationary applications such as water pumps or generators normally last much longer than other applications. I'm much more concerned about battery cost and life. In the US, 12 and 24 volt lighting and appliances are common and using power direct from the battery bank would be an advantage. Unfortunately we don't have that option here.

[lannarebirth]

It's pretty common knowledge. Plants are opening around the globe producing thin film solar. It appears first applications are in electrical generation facilities and industrial applications, but I would expect retail sales of this stuff is not more than a year or two away. Production has been more than doubling, each of the past couple years. I expect that trend to accelerate. You can check out websites for "FirstSolar" and ""Nanosolar".

...

Yes, it's part of the Rural Electrification Program. I'm aware of the warranty, but I'm still at their mercy as to them honoring it. My girlfriend now says "maybe next month". Solartron sells a 12V pump, which was part of a Rural Irrigation Program they also were part of. I haven't contacted them about it, so have no details. I think Leonics may sell 12V pumps as well.

Thin film: I would like to believe it, but 2 $/W is 66 % less than conventional panels! Maybe "talking for selling".

Solarpumps: We also sell these DC-pumps. Lorentz pumps have a brushless motor, super quality, very expensive (more than 1.000 US)!

Warranty: Please have a look at

http://www.bget.org/index.php?option=com_c...4&Itemid=39

You will find information about how to get warranty service.

Hi Claude,

I didn't say it would it would redude the cost TO $2/W. I said it would reduce the cost BY $2/W. That would be a reduction of about 40% - 50% on the panels alone and a reduction of about 30% - 40% on the system.

Edited October 12, 2007 by lannarebirth

[ClaudeFeller]

My wife has a ten rai plot of land that has no electricity. It is scenic, has a pond and fruit trees. I am quite interested in building a getaway cottage on that land. I checked out solar energy companies including Solar Energy Asia and the Thai company that supplies the government with their systems. I was interesting that both companies wanted exactly 180,000 baht for 400 watt systems. I calculated the payback time and it appears it is about 25 years. Of course the systems will not last 25 years, so no payback. Solar energy is a great idea, unfortunately it is still simply too expensive to install.

Haha, thai companies!!! For 180.000 Bahts you can get a state-of-the-art 600 W system with sinus inverter and deep cycle gel batteries with 5 days autonomy.

I never got any serious quotation from a thai solar company.

[LaoPo]

My wife has a ten rai plot of land that has no electricity. It is scenic, has a pond and fruit trees. I am quite interested in building a getaway cottage on that land. I checked out solar energy companies including Solar Energy Asia and the Thai company that supplies the government with their systems. I was interesting that both companies wanted exactly 180,000 baht for 400 watt systems. I calculated the payback time and it appears it is about 25 years. Of course the systems will not last 25 years, so no payback. Solar energy is a great idea, unfortunately it is still simply too expensive to install.

Haha, thai companies!!! For 180.000 Bahts you can get a state-of-the-art 600 W system with sinus inverter and deep cycle gel batteries with 5 days autonomy.

I never got any serious quotation from a thai solar company.

I have no idea or knowledge about Solar systems; the only thing I know is that the Solar industry is BOOMING, worldwide.

Maybe you may try to get a serious offer from one of the Thai companies listed here ? :

http://energy.sourceguides.com/businesses/...lar/solar.shtml

LaoPo

[ClaudeFeller]

LaoPo,

I cannot connect to the link above - seems to be probs with .com sites from USA.

Anyway, I am a solar power consultant, my suppliers are german managed companies, one in Laos, one in Khon Kaen. Sometimes I ask a quotation from a thai company, but just for fun - always amazing the 100%-profit calculations with poor warranty times. But there might be some serious companies as well, just couldnt find them.

Solar is booming in countries with a political support for renewable energies and not in Thailand.