View source for Power infrastructure: "Alternative Power Sources for ICT aka XOs"

== Session Description ==

Cut and paste

== Notes ==

* talk on Alternative Power use with #olpc

* in haiti, lucking if you got 2 hours of power a day

* "western mind cannot conceive that there's no power when you need it"

* solar panels is 3% to 17% efficiency

* cheaper to install solar panels than extend the electrical grid

* UN estimates 2+ million villages worldwide without electric power

* panel efficiency drops as temperature rises

* cells connect in series, so weakestcell will bring others down

* charge controller needs disconnect feature to prevent loss of energy at night

* charge controller needs to be automatically switchable between voltages

* charge controller needs to charge battery slowly to extend battery life

* lead acid batteries used because they're cheap and hold lots of energy. Temperature has huge effect on battries.

* bad to store batteries (inactivity hurts them)

* need *deep cycle* lead acid batteries, not car batteries

* DC to AC converters loses as much as 30%

* teachers want to charge cell phones ... do it DC-to-DC (usb in charge controller)

* micro-hydroelectric ... power from streams and hilltops

* micro-hydro plant for $5000

* small wind turbines .. verticle ones $1k to $2.5k USD

* bio-gas from big farms ... dont' dump in river, instead get 0.84 kilowatt per pig

* charging XO ..12 to 17 watts for 1.5 hours to charge battery

* typical laptop uses 70 watts, XO uses 7 watts

* haiti bought 350 high-end dell servers ... uses the most amount of energy

* green WiFi ... shut down at night to save energy ... power linksys router ... $600 traditional way ... $250 with green wifi

* standard solar design for school with 300/200/100 XOs (+ school server)

* MoE gets plan, to get competitive bid ... trying to get away from powering AC for principal and TV for night guard

* building low-power data center with solar panel (in senegal)

* good gell-cell battery (lead acid) can last 10 years

* engaging University of Haiti students to build solar installations .. to not drop-ship

* now starting XoDock ... students who are soon to graduate form SJSU

* where to put the laptops, how to power them ... focused on #haiti initially .. 48 laptops for $600

* xodock team visited 10 schools in may ... 50 in classroom to 300 in classroom

* anything you can do to make the laptops easier to use increases the usage of them

* xodock ... lost cost, uniterrupted power, protected storage, safe & easy mobility

* decided to use common PVS components ... strength to weight ratio, good electrical insulation, fireproof ... "carrier stack"

* with 8 laptops, 31 pounds, up to 48 laptops (6 racks) ... cable routing .. each rack is $35

* uses both AC & DC (solar) ... custom built charger

* $331 with battery for 48 laptops

* can now charge 24 laptops in 4 hours, improvements to come ... want 24 laptops in 2 hours

* delivery date is Dec 10th ... mechanical $210, electrical $131 = $341 ... $531 with battery