Energy in Peru

I’m still in the process of analyzing all of the stove data I collected, but will have to do that in Peru since I’ve moved on to additional interesting projects. 

I got picked up by this vehicle in Piura, Peru where I will be helping install a 500 W wind turbine (turbina eólica) in communities without power.  What’s neat too is that I found out this vehicle runs on natural gas as well as gasoline.  In fact, many vehicles in Peru are natural-gas-gasoline hybrids, and in the big cities, it’s very easy to find natural gas for purchase which is much cheaper than gasoline, and the gasoline tank can still be used in the mountains.

Our first stop, after picking up a piece of wood (madera) to mount the turbine on to, was to a community where one of these 500 W turbines had already been installed.  These turbines are about the perfect size for a single multi-person household without electricity from the grid, and these turbines can generate enough electricity to power lights at night and possibly charge cell phones and sometime even a television.  Some of these houses also have solar panels that are primarily used for charging cell phones, though the solar panels have a high upkeep since they get dusty frequently, so that's why the wind energy is great to have (las panales de sol necesitan limpiar con mas frecuencia, es la razon que energía de viento es mejor).  

This particular house we visited was having problems of the turbine not reaching its full potential, most likely due to the fact that there were trees in front causing turbulence (los arboles en frente de la turbina son una problema).  We debated for a while whether the best solution would be to raise the height of the turbine since wind speed picks up with altitude, though this would create more problems with vibrations, or to move the turbine to another location.  We even began to think about what type of cheap tool we could use to measure the vibration force, maybe a smart phone app of some sort (pensamos lo que herrmienta barrata podemos usar para medir los vibraciónes, posible una aplicación de telefonos inteligentes).  Another suggestion was put out to cut down the trees (una otra opción fue cortar los arboles).  The final decision was to move the turbine and make it taller (la ultima decisión fue cambiar el lugar y hacer mas alto).  Since the sun was about to go down when we arrived, the family was planning to get this started and maybe finished, and we would return another day if needed (la familia empezará este proyecto y talvez terminará tambien, y nosotros volveremos si es necesario).

Mas a venir sobre mi primera viaje de instalación en Peru, y terminaré las estufas tambien.  (more to come about my first installation trip in Peru, and I will finish the stoves too).