Project Trip January 2025

In order to increase the energy capacity of our grid, the installation of a so-called balcony PV system on the roof of the school was planned. As a pole substructure had to be laboriously ‘carpentered’ onto the thin corrugated iron roof and the three inverters (1.6 KW each) required complex cabling, only half of the 24 PV panels could be put into operation due to a lack of time. However, everything worked well. Our electrical specialists Jörg Tanneberger and Andreas Ritter also installed lamps and sockets in the classroom below in exemplary fashion - a true model installation!

After a few tests, this went well so that the diesel generators could be used at times when the sun is weak. Special programming was also carried out to prevent uncontrolled overcharging of the batteries by the balcony PV systems.

In E-House I (main control centre), we were able to arrange the components in the control box in such a way that space was created for a wind control circuit. The control system itself could not yet be finalised, but will now be tested here in Rüsseina. The energy supply from the wind turbine will be of considerable importance for the higer reduction of energy at night, as the wind blows particularly strongly at night.

As the solar roofs had been erected years ago using a fast-track construction method and unfortunately without diagonal bracing, reinforcements now had to be installed due to the imminent leaning of the ‘buildings’. This was done by master carpenter Andreas Zimmermann. The sawing work proved to be extremely difficult. Dry eucalyptus wood is so hard and tough that saw blades (and even iron drills!) quickly become blunt.

As there is little awareness of the need for constant maintenance in near-natural populations (you can get anything from natural materials at any time), one of the main problems is the continuous replacement of desolate power poles. The condition of some sections is alarmingly bad: missing poles, leaning poles, pole stumps ... A ‘test route’ was therefore established with the village technicians for checking and replacing poles. It turned out that the replacement itself can be carried out very quickly and easily. The technicians replaced eight poles in one day. Thanks in part to a ‘pole replacement bonus’ that we offered, we now hope that the technicians will now renovate line after line.

Contrary to statements made last year, we have been informed that there is still a need for further network expansion. Firstly, around 18 huts in Tula still need to be connected. This includes 10 huts in the neighbouring municipality of Morsito, which are within sight of our electricity centre but have no electricity. This has caused quite a discussion in the community as to whether this is possible or not. However, our approval is subject to the condition that there is a written declaration from the municipality of Morsito regarding the restriction to these 10 huts.

A greater challenge is the fact that the Tula district of Gambo Village, of which we were previously unaware (12 hut units), is located far away in the valley. Due to the great distance from the last existing power point (almost one kilometre), we need to consider whether a small separate power supply could be installed down there, similar to the separate system we installed for one of the two churches in 2024 (which works very well).

Finally (!) Andreas Zimmermann was able to turn the wretched, bent, grinding ‘farmyard gate’ into what you could call a farmyard gate by means of proper hinges. The landlord was delighted.

Some of the group were able to travel south for two more days before returning home on 19/20 February.

What next?

As the wind turbine urgently needs to be put back into operation, we could travel to Tula with a small group in October to install the control system. If there are enough people, we might even be able to expand the PV system on the school.
Consumer behaviour remains a problem in Tula: in many huts, people simply leave the lights on at night until the morning. The resulting energy consumption is enormous. As we do not expect a fundamental change in consumer behaviour, we will provide for an automatic switch-off between 11.00 pm and 6.00 am. This could also be installed in October.

We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the planning, financing and realisation of the campaign.