One type of solar dryer waiting to be tested.

I have a model of a solar collector that I need to move to ICC so that Prof. Larry Kellerman can have his students test and collect data on how well it will work.  I found this design on the internet and thought is was worth a try.   I had to buy the 2 by 6's but the plywood is an old piece that I had and a piece that I got from an old shipping crate.  I got two pieces of roofing tin and painted it black.  I will move the collector to ICC and put it together at the Dingeldine Campus.  I have to add a few hoop pieces to hold the visqueen and a small fan and photovoltaic panel to drive the fan and then it will be ready to test.  We will see just how much air the fan will move and how warm the temperature will get in the dryer.

This will lay flat and be covered with visqueen.  The visqueen will be held in place by staples in the wood frame and a few screws in the metal straps.  This part is the heating part and the one you can not see is the drying rack.  The complete drying system is four foot wide and fourteen foot long.  We will see how well it works and how well the visqueen stands up to the elements. 

Enjoying coffee at ICC

The fair trade coffee tasting was today and it seemed to be a successful event.  I tasted the coffee from Guatemala and Peru.  Both coffees were good.  The Guatemala coffee was a lighter roast and the coffee from Peru was a stronger coffee.  We had the cat bench on display and Rufino had some of the hand made jewelry on display.

Students had volunteered time to help serve coffee.  You could get a cup of coffee by making a donation to help improve the school buildings in Guatemala.

This is Rufino Caniz, a visiting professor from Guatemala, who is here to learn about welding and to gather information about solar energy, so he can return and help develop a solar energy program.  We hope the solar energy program will improve the lives of the people in his village.  The more solar energy they use the more money they should get to keep in their pockets and the better it will be for the environment.  We just need to build some working models and gather the data to see it the models will work and it they are affordable for the people of Guatemala to build. 

This is Paty Cole and Rufino sitting on the cat bench that Rufino and Jeff Joos, ICC welding technician, built.  We hope to sell the bench for 150 dollars and use that money to help fix the roof of the school in Rufino's village.  The bench is made of steel and the wood is redwood.  The materials are all reused material.  This bench would be a welcome addition to anyones garden for many years.

Fair trade Guatemala coffee tasting

On Monday, October 10, from 10 am to 2 pm the ICC International Education department will host a fair trade coffee tasting at the East Peoria Campus Atrium.  All money that is raised will go to help the Godinas School in Gautemala.  I hope to have the cat bench over there for people to see and I hope to buy.  It is done now and has the redwood on it.  It is a very nice piece of patio furniture and would be a welcomed addition to any home.  Rufino and Jeff Joos have done a very nice job on this project.  Jeff Joos, ICC welding technician and Adjunct Faculty, has been working with Rufino to help him learn how to weld.  Jeff is a very good teacher and has taught Rufino a lot in a very short time.  I hope to get a picture of the two of them sitting on the bench for this blog and to send to the AWS welding journal magazine.
I also could not find the article on the Harbinger web site but I will keep trying and when I am successful I will post the link.

Harbinger writes an article about Solar Coffee Dryer

The newest issue of the ICC school newspaper has an article about the Solar Coffee Dryer project.  You should be able to read it at www.iccharbinger.com
I will have to get a real link to the this site.  Give me a minute.

The solar coffee drier

The project is moving along and Rufino is a very hard worker.  Things take a little longer than normal because he is new to ICC and we have never been to Guatemala.  We look at things through "our eyes" and then find out why that will not work. I had a similar experience in Xian, China with my students.  It just takes a little longer for the communication process to work.  Like I said Rufino is a hard worker and he will help push us a long.  That is good.  We do have several models to start working on and the next few weeks should tell just how strong we are going to finish.  I think what ever we do we will have to refine it but the coffee season that we will work with is next year and we have time to make the changes we might need to make. Now we need to see just how many solar panels we are going need to get to build a successful dryer.

Learning to weld

Part of the training for Rufino Caniz is to learn how to weld.  He is doing a good job.  He will also start to learn more about electricity and solar power.  He should start taking the electrical classes this week, week#5 of the fall semester.  He found a model solar coffee drier that we are going to see about building and checking for temperatures and other important data.  The site he found is in Spanish and is a drier they use in El Salvador.  It is similar to several models we have seen on web sites here in the USA.  It looks like a good model to start with.   We are going to see about adding some small solar powered fans to move air over the beans.  We need to get this built in a week or two so we can see how well it might work.  Rufino is also working on a project that could help bring in some more funding.  A cat bench for the garden. This bench is like the ones I have on my web site only this bench has redwood on for the seat and back.  I think once this is done it will make any garden area look better. 

Once we get the wood on this, paint it black, and get the whiskers on the face I think this will look get and should bring in some money for our project.  It is also giving Rufino some practice at making things. 

Landscape and Garden Days at ICC

Over the years I have made numerous items for the lawn and garden and this year I loaded them up and took them to ICC's Landscape and Garden Days to try and sell to help raise money for the Gautemala coffee roasting project.  The day was successful and we have an extra 255 dollars to help us.  More important I have less stuff around the house.   If we build a couple more sunflowers we can get another 30 dollars.  So the day was worth the effort.