soda bottle lights or soda bottle sky lights

This is a picture of the first soda bottle light or sky light that we installed in Guatemala. This test was done at Rufino's shed.  The soda bottle sky light adds enough light to the room to equal a 60 watt bulb.  It can really add light in to a space that is dark.  As long as the sun is out you get free light.  Many of the small homes here have no windows or one window.  If you need to see you have to use electricity so this free source of added light can really help.  I would be curious to see what would happen if we added a reflecting shade to it.. 

This is one of  the soda can solar heaters that we built.  This model has fan in it that is hooked to a temperature control.  When the temperature in the collector reaches 110 degrees the fan starts and moves more hot air in to the coffee drying rack that we built.  Our test model is similar to the larger models they use at the coffee coop, or finca.  We tested this one today and it was producing warm air.  We are going to get another fan for the other unit and a speed control for it.  The solar heater in this picture has a fan that will start once the box temperature is 110 and will shut off when the temperature cools to 90 degrees.

  We should be able to dry coffee beans on Monday.  The coffee coop's water pump is broken.  They pump water from the lake up the mountain to the coffee coop.  The water is used to wash that beans.

The way I understand it, they pump the water up the side of the mountain from the lake.  That is a long haul.

finishing the solar collectors tomorrow

After a good day of work on the solar soda can collectors we headed to town to have some tacos for supper.  Today was a good day of work and tomorrow we will finish the two solar soda can collectors and paint them.  We should move them up the hill on Friday, build the little greenhouse, and see how much hot air we can produce and if we can dry some coffee beans.  We also need to start to work on the solar hot water heater.   That should go ok once we get started.

We took a tour of the local open market and bought some snack food and some meat. The local market here is very much like the markets in Xian.  Meat, vegetables, fruits, clothes, you name it it is there.  Hope to have some good pictures of the greenhouse, the solar panels, and Rufino's town up the mountain.

Winding night and no power the next day

We had a big wind storm last night and because of that we were without power and water most of the day.  Since we could not do the work we had planned we took a trip up the mountain to learn about the coffee process.

This is the forced air coffee drying process that we are learning about.  The large screen at the left of this picture is where the cleaned coffee beans are placed.  Hot air from the furnace blows in under the screen and then raises up and through the beans to dry them.  This requires a generator for the elecricity and fuel to run the heater.  If we can do something with solar we should be able to help cut costs. 

This is the more  traditional coffee drying patio.  The beans are spread out on to a concrete patio and then raked every 30 minutes to make sure they dry evenly.  The beans are covered at night and then uncovered in the morning.  The coffee takes three to six days to dry.  This batch will take about six days because we had some cloudy days.  It takes a lot of work to make our morning Jo.

This is a picture of the younger coffee plants on the hillside.  I found it difficult to walk up the hill and I would think it would be a lot harder to do it carrying a bag of coffee beans.  But if you are picking coffee and decide to turn around you will get to see this view. 

This is the reason why some people like to live here. 

first full day of work here in Guatemala

First full day of work on the solar collectors we had some people stop by to compare ideas with us.  Part of what we are here for is to do the work, teach Rufino how to do the work, and to document the work that we are doing.  Andre, an ICC student from Russia, is the film person on this trip.

Rufino and Dr. Kellerman are drilling the holes on the board that is to hold the soda cans in place and allow the warm air to move through them. 

We are cleaning old soda cans so that we can cut the tops off and drill holes in the bottom of them. 

Drilling holes in the bottom of the cans.  Next step is to glue them together and mount them in to the frame we have built.  We had a few problems with the cans because the cans here are just different enough from the cans in the USA.  We had to get the tops off using tin snips. You have to adapt.

We are having a snack of fruit for the morning.

Lunch.  You put the stuff on the plate in the bowl of soup.  It was very good.  Paty Cole has a cook book that was put together by the local ladies, just like every church does in the Midwest.  We should be able to photo copy it and take the recipes back to the USA and share them with the ICC culinary department.   We can also share them with our new friends in Silver City.

Out on the town for a nice supper.  Met some people from Santa Fe, New Mexico.  The reason we started to talk was because she had a Starved Rock State Park sweat shirt on.  I was wearing my Sancken Automotive tee shirt and quite a few people asked me to say Hi to Honest Mark.  I did find out that Rufino's wife, who is called Irma, has a traditional Guatemalan name.  Irma in Guatemala is pronounced Ear-ma.  That is why I thought it was strange that she was named Irma because I thought of it as an English name and it is not.  It is really windy tonight and I hope it calms down.  This is the coldest month here and so far it has been nice weather.  Tomorrow we should have a soda can collector done and be working on another. Watching the bowl game on the TV.

Our last meeting before we leave

Dr. Kellerman held a meeting to go over the important items of the trip, before we take off for Guatemala.  I am looking forward to the trip and think we should be able to get our busy schedule of work done.  I think we will be able to get our busy schedule of work done and with the tools we will leave behind the people of the area should be able to continue to build solar panels, if they decide the panels will work for them.  I hope the solar hot water heater works out well.  I will continue to take solar energy classes at ICC during the spring semester.  The solar energy is much easier to install when you do not have to worry about it freezing.

These are the two students that will be making the trip to Guatemala.  Andre, the student on the right, has the main duty of filming the entire project. One of the important jobs is to document what we are doing and using that film to help sell this project to others once we get back to ICC.  We are going down there with what we think we will see and what we think we can do and that is all based on having never been there.   The more information we bring back the more ideas we can get from other people about what we might be able to do in the future to improve things for the people of the area.  Ben, the student on the left, will do what ever we need him to do, gather information, build solar panels, work on plastic bottle walls, and be a good ambassador for our school and our country.  Like any trip I have nothing much to do now but to wait until we leave.  This is the part I do not like, the waiting to leave.  I have my bags packed and weighed, so that is done.  I had that done a couple of days ago.  I am glad we have a driver taking us to the Chicago airport.  It makes everything so much easier.  I guess the next post will be from Guatemala.

new post from my new phone

I guess I can post things from my phone now.  I will also have to learn how to do pictures and other things that you can do with a better phone.   I am slowly  joining the 21 century.  But I have a lot to learn.

My new smart phone

I am going to see if I can post something on this blog using my new phone.  I need to learn how to live in the new world that electronics has created for us.  I still can not see me walking around with a phone stuck to the side of my face but I will need to learn how to use it because we are going to give up our land line as soon as we move to Silver City.  The only people that ever called me was the nursing home and the Red Cross.  My mother is dead now, so the nursing home does not call.  I have been to China and can not give blood until July and we will move, I hope, so they won't call either.  I don't call people but now I have a new phone and I have to learn how to use it.  We shall see how that goes.