MONDAY MORNING

At this point the course was focused on topics specifically related to CNG's photovoltaic system such as energy capacity (generation, storage and demand), wiring and electronic/electrical components.

MONDAY AFTERNOON

Luis and Federico are working with the external cables that run into the DC breaker box.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON

We are discussing the internal wiring for the DC and AC breaker boxes.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON

All the batteries were transported from the control room to an empty classroom to make their maintenance more manageable.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON

Walter and Federico are bringing the batteries from the control room. Christian and Patricia are carefully cleaning the nuts and plates that connect them in series.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON

Each battery weighs around 40 pounds. We moved 24 of these devices on a roughed terrain. The transportation provided some healthy agitation of the batteries.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON

The batteries were moved under supervision and with extreme care to avoid any kind of accidents.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON

Christian and Patricia used a combination of baking soda solution and sand paper to remove the sulphate from the nuts and plates as well as the grease and dust that was accumulated.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

In the past, the AC generated by the PV system was delivered to a breaker box related to the internal grid of that building. Some time after the PV operated for the first time, the internal grid grew or suffered modifications that blurred the energy contribution of the PV system to the school.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

To assure a truly solar powered computer lab, Luis Oña, Eusebio Bohorquez and Raimundo Tomala are working in the new wiring that will isolate the computer lab from the public grid and tie it directly to the PV system only.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

Luis is bringing the conduit to run the AC cables cables that will supply power generated by the PV system to the computer lab.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

The electronic devices for the PV system are mounted and the wiring is almost completed. On top of the DC breaker box there are 2 charge controllers Outback MX60.

WEDNESDAY EVENING

The batteries were equalized as much as possible using a battery car recharger at 6 Volts, therefore, the equaliztion process was manually controlled.

WEDNESDAY EVENING

The recharger was rented so it could only be used after business hours. Thus, the equalization time for each set was of 3 hours at the most, which was not enough to provide a relevant charge to these large batteries. Myself and Ricardo were up until very late at night watching over the batteries.