Idea for Missionaries

[dmdarapt]

Hey,

 

I just had an idea for missionaries working in remote African villages. Many of these villages have no electrical power and no infrastructure to provide it. Why not go off-grid? (Solar power)? The setup and installation would be expensive but it would eventually pay for itself, the village would then have unlimited electricity without any power plants or power lines, the sun in Africa is very hot so it would provide alot of power! I found a video on YouTube about going off-grid, this couple install solar arrays at the house and now have a monthly electrical bill of 0 dollars! If you want to have a look the video is here: https://youtu.be/wApxkcr_gX8

[Who me]

Are you involved with any missionary societies? 

They have the practical knowledge of conditions  in the field and can tell you how useful your ideas are.

 

On the plus side you will.l be supporting missionaries in there work.

[Ani Tefillah]

That's a great idea! 

[other one]

Problem is, unless things are much different there, it costs about $25,000 to $50,000 to go totally off the grid with Solar for a single house.     All this solar hype will take at least 25 years to pay for itself and the hardware does not usually last that long.   Expensive batteries wear out and fail and the solar panels make less and less power each year they work.  I just went through a sales pitch for solar for our house.   Turns out that while I can have a 0 dollar electric bill, but the same payment to the loan for installing it takes about 30 years to pay off.    And because it adds so much value to the house, my insurance premiums go up, adding more total cost for the system.

 

It is a good idea though if the money is available..

[Ani Tefillah]

15 minutes ago, other one said:

Problem is, unless things are much different there, it costs about $25,000 to $50,000 to go totally off the grid with Solar for a single house.     All this solar hype will take at least 25 years to pay for itself and the hardware does not usually last that long.   Expensive batteries wear out and fail and the solar panels make less and less power each year they work.  I just went through a sales pitch for solar for our house.   Turns out that while I can have a 0 dollar electric bill, but the same payment to the loan for installing it takes about 30 years to pay off.    And because it adds so much value to the house, my insurance premiums go up, adding more total cost for the system.

 

It is a good idea though if the money is available..

I didn't know that it was so expensive for the Solars. I've watched many videos on YouTube about people who have gone off the grid, mostly so called tiny house and similar, and they use both Solars, Propane and Batteries together oftentimes, so maybe that could be an option? 

[Deborah_]

It's already being done.

For example: https://www.tearfund.org/stories/2018/09/the-power-to-learn 

[other one]

37 minutes ago, Deborah_ said:

It's already being done.

For example: https://www.tearfund.org/stories/2018/09/the-power-to-learn 

If lights are all you want, solar is OK.   One can do led lights to study by for as little as a few hundred dollars.   In the really remote areas it would be a nice thing for lighting....   but things like heat, hot water, cooking and such is a whole different thing. In remote areas even propane is a problem for one has to refill the tanks occasionally.   A 500 gallon propane tank costs about $800 to fill where it's easy to get to.

[Hopefully]

“And the Good News I have shared about God’s kingdom will be told throughout the world. It will be spread to every nation. Then the end will come.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭24:14‬ ‭
 

We may not see a way yet, but it’s going to happen eventually.

[Riverwalker]

I could see this for powering a water pump. But I don't think besides that the villages you speak of have much use for it.

[Ray12614]

6 hours ago, other one said:

Problem is, unless things are much different there, it costs about $25,000 to $50,000 to go totally off the grid with Solar for a single house.     All this solar hype will take at least 25 years to pay for itself and the hardware does not usually last that long.   Expensive batteries wear out and fail and the solar panels make less and less power each year they work.  I just went through a sales pitch for solar for our house.   Turns out that while I can have a 0 dollar electric bill, but the same payment to the loan for installing it takes about 30 years to pay off.    And because it adds so much value to the house, my insurance premiums go up, adding more total cost for the system.

 

It is a good idea though if the money is available..

Exactly!  For all the 'hype' about solar electricity solutions, the big hang up right now is the technology available.

Batteries wear out and are expensive which is the main drawback for home consumption applications. Same can be said about electric car batteries, they are very expensive to replace when they wear-out.