Island Systems [RE-wrenches]

[Robert Foster]

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David,

The Dominican Republic has a long and rich history using PV systems, 
being one of the first Latin American countries to do so, starting back 
in 1984 with Enersol Associates founded by Rich Hansen.  He later 
started SOLUZ Inc. in 1993 to sell and lease PV systems in the DR.  I 
would estimate that there have been around 15,000 PV systems installed 
in the DR, including a few hybrids (mostly for telcom).  The most 
common PV system is the 50 Wp lighting system.  The market is rather 
limited for larger $20k+ systems.

Depending on what part of the island you are working on, there are 
capable engineers and techs that could install and maintain a hybrid 
system.  The DR PV industry is mature and quite competitive, with over 
a dozen companies installing solar systems, sucy as Soluz, Cogram, 
Melisa, TecSol, etc.  There are also some isolated mini-grids in 
operation, such as that by Punta Cana or Las Terrazas with capable 
staff.  There are also some decent tech schools such as INTEC in Sto 
Dgo.  Give me an idea as to where you want to work in the DR and where 
the local engineer lives, and maybe I can make some recommendations.

The grid is unreliable, and in fact Trace designed its DR series 
inverters specifically for this market (designed to fit two inside a 
suitcase to travel from the US).  There is insufficient generation 
capacity.  Typically, you have daily rotating blackouts, especially in 
the larger population centers for a few hours.  Sometimes multiple 
blackouts in a day (depending where one lives).  When there are 
hurricanes, you can have power outages for a few days in some areas 
(such as with Hurricane Jeanne yesterday).  But for the most part, 
people on-grid can charge a battery bank from the grid sufficiently so 
as not to require additional PV charging.  The ultimate PV market in 
the DR is for the ~2 million rural people who live off-grid.  However, 
many rural households typically make around US$1,000/year, and can only 
purchase or lease very modest PV systems or lanterns.

I have lived and worked there off and on for the last 20 years doing 
solar and wind projects.  It is a very beautiful country with friendly 
people, so I am sure you would enjoy working down there.   Drop me a 
line if you have any specifics to discuss.  Best of luck.

Robert Foster
SW Region Solar Experiment Station
New Mexico State University

>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Greetings wrenches.
>
> A local engineer is interested in designing and marketing PV systems 
> into the Dominican Republic.  Based on the application as it was 
> described to me, he is looking to sell stand alone systems in place of 
> existing generators, which are loud and expensive to run.  I had 
> several questions, which went unanswered in our conversation.  Perhaps 
> someone out in the ether can help.
>
> First, does anyone on the list know whether there is an existing 
> knowledge base on the island to install, program, and maintain a 
> sophisticated hybrid system?  (If not, I will volunteer some solar 
> hippies from Vermont for the winter.)  Second,
> I am curious if anyone has first hand experience with the grid 
> reliability in the Dominican Republic.  While the grid is generally 
> unreliable, it is available for a couple hours or many hours out of 
> the day.  What adjustments have you made to your basic system sizing 
> that best accommodates the varying times that the utility grid is 
> available for running loads and charging batteries?  Third, since 
> hurricanes will always be a factor, a well designed system will still 
> require generator back up.  That could make marketing a system 
> difficult.  PV is a silent generator, but is that enough incentive to 
> sell a $20,000 to $50,000 system.  Any experience marketing PV on the 
> islands?
>
> By all means contact me off-list, if you'd rather.  But I suspect that 
> this will interest the group.  Somebody out there is serving this 
> market, however seasonal or challenging it is.  (I mean designing 
> systems is one thing, international shipping, duties and customs, 
> quite another.)  Is this a profitable side for any of your businesses? 
>  Is it an end in itself?  Or is it, as I suspect, difficult to sell 
> and difficult to maintain these systems, but hellava fun to install in 
> January?
>
> Thanks all.
>
> David C. Brearley
> Eastern Region Tech Services Manager
>
> Energy Outfitters
> 218 Little Falls Rd, Units 7 & 8
> Cedar Grove, NJ 07009
> Phone: 973/239-1815
> Fax: 973/239-8794
> www.energyoutfitters.com
>

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