Mounting the Panels

I just started a two week leave from MCA (it will be a good break before a very busy 5 months), and so I took the opportunity on Sunday to head back up to Ha Sefako to install the solar panels. Thursday and Friday I had missed work with a nasty virus that left me with cold sweats and a 103 degree temperature, it later moved to my small intestine, and on Saturday it had made it's way into my lungs. So, traveling up to Sefako on public transportation Sunday was not a pleasant prospect, but it was kind of a now or never moment. Long story short it took me roughly 8 hours, 2 hitches and 2 taxis to get to Sefako. I arrived at about 4 pm and immediately got a small crew together to get to work. We prepped the panels, bolted the first two in place and ran some conduit before it got to dark and cold to work anymore. The picture below was my attempt at a night shot of the office with lights on. I wanted a little more, but without a tripod and my good camera, there wasn't much I could do. Although it's not pretty, it tells the right story.


The next morning I asked the boys to be there at 8 because I wanted to make it back to Maseru the same day. They showed up a little late, so I took some pictures of what we had accomplished. Below is the concrete for one of the long support struts off the back of the contraption. I was very happy when I showed up and saw how stiff the structure had become with the supports placed firmly in concrete a meter deep. It's certainly not going anywhere.


This next picture is just of the first two panels that we installed the night I arrived. I was happy working at night because it meant that we weren't going to get shocked wiring up those panels...


When the boys did arrive, we started work right away. We quickly had the next two panels in place and I wanted to make sure we had some documentation of the installation. I handed down my camera to one of the boys who was helping and asked, "Have you ever used a camera before."
"No, Sir."
"Okay, push the little button on top to turn it on." There are only two buttons on top, so he pushed both and the lens came open, which gave him a little start.
"Now push the round button down halfway, and it will beep and you will see some green boxes. Then push it all the way down and it will take the picture." After about 4 minutes of this, not knowing if he had actually taken any in-focus pictures, I told him good job and got back to work. In the end he had nailed it and had taken about 15 pictures, one of which is below.


While we were working a small crowd formed, loitered, gossiped and occasionally helped (see below). It took them about 20 minutes to disassemble and move the scaffolding because there was a big weekend to catch up on, but they seemed pretty interested and proud of the solar installation.

The scaffolding we were using wasn't exactly in pristine condition. It was bent all over the place, had no treads, had not levelers and generally shook. In some cases we even had to stand on the top rung to reach where we needed to. It was precarious, definitely not OSHA approved, but also the only way we could get the job done. Here Tlobello is standing in a very uncomfortable position putting in a hard-to-reach bolt. I couldn't have done this job without him, he is a serious handyman.

This is just me doing some wiring. The wind picked up towards the end of the installation, and despite the flimsy scaffolding the reinforced structure was rock solid.


The very last bolt that needed to be installed was very difficult to reach, so I got down and recruited the tall kid in the group to go do it. He hopped up, and with Tlobello's help, they locked everything up.

This is the crew from up high. Unfortunately only older kids were attending winter classes that day, so I didn't get a chance to see students that I'd had.


Above is the finished installation. The office building blocks the view from the front, but this does a good job of showing the 810 watt array.

Below you can just see the array against the school. It's big, but out of way behind the staff room and office.


So that project is all done. The two top pieces for the battery encasement were curing while I was there, but they should be installed by the end of the week, and there are a few pieces of conduit that need to be installed, but it looks great and is all ready for use. We'll have to wait to hear how it's working later in the year.

Cheers, all.