Since we last posted, we have spent three long days inside the PowerPac. We actually turned on the Solar on Monday and began to run the campus by the battery power and solar. We worked through many tests after setting up the configuration of the system on Monday. Since that day we have modified parameters and then did more modifications. As I sit here on Thursday night, I can truly say that we have a system here that is absolutely amazing. But what we have discovered is that the university is using more power all the time and this will likely continue. During the sunny days there is adequate sun to power the campus and also bring the batteries up to full charge before darkness sets in. But the days have been quite cloudy here this week, so we are not getting the charge out of the sunlight that we would like. Still, on a cloudy day there is more than enough solar to power the university, but charging the batteries back up after a long night takes longer under these conditions.
We had brought some outside lights for around the PowerPac from the US, but found out the voltage did not match the voltage here. So, John Baptiste located some fixtures for us from the local market.
The workers here are busy putting together fencing to keep the PowerPac secure.
They have been working hard to make the new generator secure. Moses, from Uganda, has been here since Monday afternoon to commission the generator for the university. He has been very helpful and has been easy to work with. I found out he lives in the very town where one of my granddaughters was born, in Uganda, and he is well acquainted with the mission my daughter and her husband were involved with for several years; New Hope Uganda.
We finally commissioned the generator today and have it working smoothly with the system.
This is a fine university and there are many students who are preparing to take the knowledge they are getting here as well as their faith to reach out to their home communities. This is a busy place that seems to be busy almost 24/7. As I said before, we are just helping this institution to minister to the youth of Burundi. Everyone is friendly and easy to talk to and get to know, especially those we are working intimately with on this project. They are true friends, and we will see them in eternity if we are never able to get back here again.
A number of us have struggled with colds here. My personal issue has been sitting inside the PowerPac for hours on end with the air conditioners running and blowing directly on me. This always gives me issues. Today we also learned that we had some major heat problems in the container. The inverters charge the batteries at full throttle and this creates an enormous amount of heat. In the last two days we have seen temperatures inside of the inverters in excess of 250-degrees. It was discovered that the inverter with the greatest heat issue had a fan that was not turned on. Once the fan was working the heat issue was significantly reduced. To help offset some of the heat we installed a number of 220-volt outlets on top of the wireway below the inverters and we have several floor fans oscillating to help spread out the air conditioning. Heat is going to be the main issue here that will be a problem, so it is a matter you could pray about with us. The university is very willing to install more air conditioners in the PowerPac if it comes to that. As of now we have 4 tons of air conditioning and a very powerful wall fan that can move something like 3 air changes per minute.
At any rate, the PowerPac was so cold tonight after dinner that Matt and I couldn't stay very long.
Tomorrow will be a training day for John Baptiste and Gaspard of the university. Please pray that we can adequately explain to these gentlemen what they need to know without overwhelming them with things they may not need. We will be able to make changes from home as we need to, but are hoping that the system will continue to perform as beautifully as it is now.
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