Last night after work I finished the solar greenhouse coffee dryer. I had to install the roof, add more wood to cover the staples, install the photovoltaic panel and fan, and run the duct work from the solar soda can collector to the greenhouse. Today the free heat from the sun should be dumping inside the greenhouse and the sun should power the small fan that will keep the air moving through the greenhouse. We will just have to see how will it will work and document the temperatures readings. Last week on a partly cloudy day the temperature leaving the soda can solar collector was 125 degrees. I think the soda can solar collector is a device that will do some good. We just have to figure out how best to hook it to a drying rack and what is the best type of drying rack to build. But we have something to test now.
I am also trying to find what we always called a Salamander, a small portable oil heater. I would like to borrow or buy a used one to experiment with trying to burn vegetable oil and fuel oil mixtures. They use a lot of vegetable oil in Guatemala and if we can burn it mixed with fuel oil then we can cut the cost of the fuel in half. That would save a lot of money and if we use soda can solar collectors during the day and fuel oil/ vegetable oil mix heaters a night, then they can save even more. But we don't want to experiment on their only heater and screw it up. ooops. I will keep looking for a Salamander and hope that I can find one. Little by little the project is coming along.
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