Friend's Research on Solar Energy

Sunday, Elizabeth and I spent some time with some amazing people from church, the male host being a man born in Togo and having received his doctorate in engineering in France. He shared about his research, an experiment on two side-by-side solar panels to test which one resists overheating most efficiently.

The Experiment
One panel was cooled using a traditional mechanical method, and he connected it just like anyone would any solar panel. For the other panel, he constructed a cooling mechanism on the backside with the hypothesis that the energy produced with the solar panels is not from the heat but the rays of the sun itself. And when the heat of the day strikes, the solar panel overheats and actually decreases the panel's capacity to produce electricity efficiently.

The cooling mechanism he invented is quite hi-tech: wi-fi, automated cooling jets, automated regulation of energy, automated thermometers, etc.  We are impressed!

Results
He has tested the panels during winter, but now he waits for spring to make concrete conclusions (to test the results through all the seasons and angles of the sun in the year).  Thus far his hypothesis stands and his cooling mechanism worked as expected.

Cape Cup Commencement

It is fun to see my teenage home all ready for the FIFA World Cup festivities! 

This is the heart of Cape Town, with Table Mountain in the background and the new Greenpoint Stadium front left.  A close-up of the stadium is below.

This partially completed overpass baffled and amused my family the entire time we lived in Cape Town.  What do you think of this idea of putting it to use: the giant vuvuzela? It is fully functional!

South Africa celebrated Vuvuzela Day on Wednesday at Noon (2 days before the World Cup began, today!) by everyone sounding vuvuzelas:

Another African Innovator: Frederick of Malawi

Mr. Msiska, who only attended school until the 5th grade, is a peasant farmer who also happens to be an inveterate inventor and a tinkerer. Among his many creations, he has designed and built a biogas converter for his toilet that he uses to produce electricity. He has also built a cell phone charger of his own design, a fan for his home, both of which use the electricity that he produces as well as a chemical sprayer for use on his farm.


I love encouraging and promoting African innovation!

Farms in the USA have been harnessing this idea, too, converting animal waste and its methane into energy. 
Biogas is typically made up of 70% methane and 30% carbon dioxide. Methane is easily combusted, so it 
makes for a good source of energy!

(HT: AfriGadget)

Cameroonian Innovation: Bamboo Magic

Bill Zimmerman posted about his experience at the 2009 South West Regional Agro-Pastoral Show in Limbe, Cameroon: 

“The event was held on a community field ringed by exhibition booths overflowing with every imaginable vegetable, fruit and live animal cultivated and raised in the southwest region of Cameroon. In addition, there were a number of innovators with homemade products and gadgets crafted from local materials... One guy stood apart with some creations that can only be described as a near perfect marriage of form, function, green design and a borderline obsession with bamboo. Lekuama Ketuafor is the proprietor of Bamboo Magic, a one-man cottage industry he’s started to supplement his work as a teacher.

Using a set of simple hand tools, glue, varnish, skill and loads of patience, Lekuama finds ways of using bamboo—a ubiquitous, low-cost, renewable material—in ways many people have never imagined. Judging from the size of the crowd gathered around his booth, I suspect few Cameroonians had seen anything quite like Lekuama’s creations before.

Among the intricately decorated bamboo shoes [2], vest, palm wine calabash, cowboy hat, clocks and so on, I was immediately attracted to two incredibly cool electronics-related pieces: a bamboo covered Nokia phone and an attractive and functional laptop case....

Due to the time intensive nature of his craft, Lekuama makes these items for sale in very small quantities. However, his dream is to establish a training center where he can transfer his skills to young Cameroonians and build a community of artisan microentrepreneurs.”