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Parrothead

A little side business idea I came up with, today.

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Parrothead

On the way back to the hotel tonight, I began thinking of a business where only one guy seems to be making money in the rural (READ: The yet-to-be powered area) of Battambang. Down the - rather lengthy road where I am working on my projects, and considering there are no mains power lines anywhere along this road, residents are using 12 vdc car and deep cycle batteries to run 12vdc lighting, charging units to power their cell phones, etc., daily. 

 

This fellow charges the residents $1.75 per two days, to put these batteries on a charger and build them back up - although I don't think he knows what he is doing. He will put, no joking here, 40 or 50 batteries on a single battery charger. I can only imagine how few amperes are actually getting to these batteries. Then, without checking them, he simply returns the batteries to their owners. 

 

This was fine and good, until he made it a point to state that a (new) battery I had was "no good", due to it being old. However, when first used in an unpowered area, this same battery lasted more than a week, providing all the family needed. Not to mention, I had fully charged that very same battery for a week, prior to load testing it myself. So, I call BULLSHIT on that, without a second thought. So, I took one of my battery chargers along for a trip with me to Battambang. 

 

Today, after purchasing all the plumbing parts needed for the new Rain Water Harvesting System I designed, I asked the store owner if we could partake of some of his power, for a small, reasonable fee? Sure! He was fine with it, in fact. I will get him to leave it on the charger for three or four days, then take it home and test it again. At least I will personally know the battery was fully charged, prior to returning it to service.

 

Anyway, I am way out on this tangent. Let me reel myself back in a bit.

 

The idea I have is to add a second solar array, completely separated from my primary one I am  installing on Tuesday. I will make one that will handle about four (4) batteries at a time, and will completely recharge them. I figure a fee of 2,000r ($.50c US), per day would be a fair rate. Many people who live on that road have batteries. We could do about $60 USD per month, consistently, possibly more. Nothing to sneeze at as a supplemental income for a Cambodian farming family.

 

My total outlay would only be for a single controller and the panel(s) necessary. Perhaps, $400 to $600 USD, total investment?

Edited by Paul
cleaned up the text a bit.
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phuketrichard

mm sounds good   

Pay back in less than 6 months

 

BUT be awre u will be breaking the one guys rice bowl an he might be a tad bit upset... and retaliate

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TorJay

 

 


BUT be awre u will be breaking the one guys rice bowl an he might be a tad bit upset... and retaliate


I was thinking the same.

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Parrothead

He can't be too upset. They have started laying concrete power polls down the road. From what everyone is saying, sometime next year, they should have power run down the road anyway. So, he is going to lose this business, ultimately, anyway. I would just like to get in and get a solar array up for that sole purpose, to do what you said - have it pay for itself within that time frame. If not needed later, we can just buy more batteries and have another array for power around the house / farm. Maybe I can install a powered Jacuzzi for the ducks and chickens.

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Parrothead

The idea I have is to add a second solar array, completely separated from my primary one I am  installing on Tuesday. I will make one that will handle about four (4) batteries at a time, and will completely recharge them. I figure a fee of $.50c US, per day, would be a fair rate. Many people who live on that road have batteries. We could do about $60 USD per month, consistently, or more. Nothing to sneeze at as a supplemental income for a Cambodian family.

 

With our solar array in full working order now, and having added four fully charged batteries to the system yesterday (not to mention by the time they got the system installed, it was too late for the panels to absorb any light, anyway), the solar array did not have a lot of work to do. 

 

Today, the family asked me if it were possible to use the array to charge a 70AH battery they had, which was used for lighting and to charge cell phones, prior to installing the solar system they now have. I did something I really shouldn't have, and removed one of the 120AH batteries, and replaced it with the 70AH battery that was a bit low. From early this morning, until late this afternoon, I left it attached to the array. (I was busy running lighting circuits in the house, dining, and kitchen areas during that time.) By the time I took it off the array, it was fully charged again.

 

So, I think the idea I have for recharging four batteries over the course of two days - depending on the size of the batteries, of course, will work out pretty well with a 300 watts array. However, I may add a fourth panel to that array.

 

I also learned, today, by having a chat with some neighbors (via my wonderful translator g/f), as well as the family, that the "other" guy who does battery recharges, seldom, if ever, returns any batteries fully charged. So, the service should work out quite well, if I can get it sorted soon enough to be profitable, before the mains get installed down the road. Like Richard stated, I need a good six months to make sure the array pays for itself. Then, I will be in high cotton, knowing the only thing that will come out of pocket, will be the new set of batteries for the array, after we stop using it to supplement the family members' income.

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