Dear friends,

finally we finished our project in Adoni. For sure, some unpredictable incidents delayed the works, but the hot water can supply the kitchen from now on. The last days were quiet busy, since Chris had to leave for Hyderabad, to have some discussions with Engineers without Borders India. They wanted us to give them a small project implementation workshop. Unfortunately, he left just the weekend when the solar system was delivered, so he could not join me while setting up the system.

But everything worked out. The workshop was satisfying for our Indian colleagues and the system was installed by a skilled team, who joined us for about 5 days. Little delays in the delivery of some pipes and fittings delayed the whole work of the team. But finally after a busy week it worked. The last evening before the big MELA, the presentation of the system to the public, we were still busy with sealing the boiler cover, since the first two materials, we bought were not 100% sealing up the lid. So we got a final paste-like material delivered by overnight express which finally worked.

The MELA was a great show for the children. The different student teams from the "Renewable energy class" had the chance to present their models and small class projects to their classmates. Our Indian friends from the IIT Chennai, who mainly managed the class did a great job and could see the interested students now performing well, in their presentations. It was a great pleasure to see so many happy children who explained some solar tower specifications and the operation of water turbines to us.

Finally we had to pack our luggage and to leave two days after the big MELA. Unfortunately we discovered some leaks in the piping in the kitchen. So we had to remove the insulation and to order a plumber again to redo some connections in the kitchen. It seems that there are nevertheless some minor leaks, but the plumber will resume his work, to accomplish the mission. Nevertheless, we reached 94°C tab water temperature in the kitchen at the 15th of December with our system. With this temperature they save more than 50% of the former fuel for their cooking process.

We are also glad to tell that already a second system of the same kind should be installed in another school in Nandyal in the Kurnool district. The installation team already got in touch with the headmaster of this institution at the MELA.

I wish a good year 2013! All the best and thank you for reading our small blog.

David and Chris

15.02.2013 19:52, Deborah Leyendecker