POST 01032E : SOLAR REFRIGERATOR
Follow-up on Posts 01019E and 01027E
30 December 2006
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This posting contains three contributions. First an information from
Terry Hart (mailto:[email protected]) from India, followed by a comment
by Anil Varshney (mailto:[email protected]) also from India. As
I made a comment in the previous posting, I feel called upon making a
further comment that I will try to keep short. I fully agree that
solar energy is an alternate source as pressure on our environment is
increasing dramatically and I have nothing against it. But my concern
is that meeting our moral obligations as health professionals, we are
saving more and more lives which is fine. I see however a widening
gap in using more and more advanced technologies to save lives but
offering rather little to these lives in terms of destiny. The gap
between the wealthy few and the poor masses is widening in
catastrophic proportions. We have known for very long the
considerable benefits of electrification for rural life and it is
quite unacceptable that there would still be areas without reliable
supply anywhere in the world in this 21st century.
Finally, Robert Davis (mailto:[email protected]) from UNICEF/ESARO
discusses the African experience with solar energy. I am not totally
convinced that country size explains Eritrean successes. Over 120,000
square kilometers does not make it that small. And I wonder in which
state is the road system? Nevertheless, can I ask Bob which advice he
would give any country considering solar energy?
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There is a solar chill refrigerator model intended for domestic/small
commercial use. This model is about to be introduced into India for
field trials. These trials will also attempt to understand potential
market niches for the product.
Terry
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Sir,
It's true that the initial benefit of all innovations is for the rich
but with time, as costs come down due to economies of scale, the
benefit reaches at lower level (but not necessarily to all).
Solar energy is an alternate source and in the long run is
cost-effective with the right technologies. Many hotels now use only
solar heaters instead of electricity. It will take time before
electricity reaches everywhere for all 24 hours, so investment in
alternate energy sources is necessary and the right step.
Regards,
Anil Varshney
----------------------------
Claude,
Within eastern and southern Africa, the one country which has
succeeded with solar cold chain is Eritrea.
Why have the Eritreans succeeded where others have had a mixed
experience at best? Look at the map. Every health facility in the
country is within a day's drive of Asmara. When a solar unit breaks
down anywhere in the country, help is no more than 24 hours away.
In larger countries, the distances and telecommunications are such
that the solar technicians and the units they should be servicing are
too far apart to assure prompt and efficient servicing. The local
repairmen, perfectly competent at servicing conventional absorption
and compression units, are at a loss to assist with solar units.
Under these conditions, solar units can go weeks or months without
servicing, and the health facilities either stop vaccinating or go
over to other sources of power.
Bob
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