desert

Agates in the Sahara

2008-12-20T00:54:00.000-08:00

Doing trips through the desert means to look for a safe place over night and you will have a look what is surrounding you - especially on the ground like snakes, scorpions and so on. At the fifth trip in Algeria on the way to Mali friends of mine and me rested in the south of Algeria along the Tanesrouft piste. Next morning we found a field with a lot of stones - and some of them were agates.
Quotation Wikipedia :
Most agates occur as nodules in volcanic rocks or ancient lavas where they represent cavities originally produced by the disengagement of volatiles in the molten mass which were then filled, wholly or partially, by siliceous matter deposited in regular layers upon the walls. Such agates, when cut transversely, exhibit a succession of parallel lines, often of extreme tenuity, giving a banded appearance to the section. Such stones are known as banded agate, riband agate and striped agate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agate

Since last year I started to work on the agates in form of tumbling them in a cylinder filled with fine Siliciumcarbid (SiC) which is a syntetic abrasive and water. Then you will have to wait for several weeks and then you can see a result - as shown in the following photos.

Resume photovoltaic plant

2008-12-19T03:12:00.000-08:00

My photovoltaic plant exists now 2 1/2 years. In meentime I lost one modul by shot or crash from a meteoric stone ( I think) But nevertheless the plant is running fine and gives me good results in earning money. Over the whole time I earned 6,435 EUR for selling electrical energy to the net.

In Germany more and more ppl decided to do such a kind of investment, cause the returns of shares is much more worth - in the moment.

the heart of the photovoltaic plant

2006-08-13T10:34:00.000-07:00

To bring the DC power of the modules to the AC net - you need an AC converter. The AC converter normaly is build up structuered up to three strings of modules, so you can organise different modules in power or attacked modules by shadows - to different strings. Each string is managed by an electronic device called MPP Tracker. This device is always looking for best results in power. To care for over- heating at the converter that reduces the power automatically I decided to construct a suspension in the free room to have a maximum of cooling air all around.

photovoltaic plant - conclusion

2006-07-30T01:20:00.000-07:00

the project now is ready for work. It exists of 28 modules that produce 5,600 Watt peak. In real I expext 5,600W x 0,85 = 4,760 Watt peak cause we are not in Italy or Spain, where the sun works much more harder. The mounting of the modules was easy cause I used a professional roofer with his crane. The complete surface of the modules is 47 square metres. Because of shadows existing in winter and in the evening hours, the roof is not totally used.

photovoltaic plant - the preparation - reasons to do

2006-07-23T00:02:00.000-07:00

Coming to the decision to buy the modules and to build up the plant means to have a check-list. Answering this check-list will show you, if it makes sense to invest. Here a short form - but you better move into a forum of photovoltaic. For german speaking people :

http://photovoltaikforum.com/pv_faq.php

In Germany such a plant is promoted by the goverment - so you´ll get from your energy company 51,80 Cent / kWh up to 30 kW plants. The promotion will be reduced every year....so the 51,80 cent are only payed, if you start the project in 2006. Price guarantee for 20 years.

Check if you have a roof to the south; the slope should be between 32° and 38° - that´s the best situation.
In the next posts I will give some more pics about my experience.

the sun is always and everywhere

2006-07-16T00:15:00.000-07:00

visiting the desert several times - you will not forget how mighty sun emits energy. After a long ride every day we took a shower in the evening with solar heated water coming from the water tanks on the roof of the landrover.

So finally I decided to spend money in some solar projects on the roof of my old house. In 1999 I bought a thermal solar collector equipment to heat up the water we need. So we saved in the middle 500 EUR in a year on gas.

In this days I will start with a project of photovoltaic elements. The power in peak will be 5800 Watt and we will earn around 51 cents for one KWh.
The elements are from SOLARWORLD and will be placed on the roof of the old barn. See the construction on the attached photos. The deepest line will be in the shadow with 30 % of the surface in December and January - hope I will not loose to much of the sun power. If you have experiences with similar projects, please write a comment.

Biker in Algerie 1991 (2)

2006-07-11T00:09:00.000-07:00

Even travelling in winter Algerie is very warm and sun is strong. We did like the evening most. Seeing the colours changing when sun goes down - each day from a different rest place over night.

Some photos from Harald our Toyo pilot - always ready for a joke.

Biker in Algerie 1991

2006-07-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

In 1991 I decided to go again to the desert - with 5 biker and another car pilot. The Toyota and my Landrover had to carry the whole petrol and water capacities for that trip. We also took spare parts for the bikes, some clothes, cooking equipment, tents and medicine with us. Even the bikes (BMW GS 100) at least got a weight up to 250 kg in addition. We drove to Tamanrasset - than to Djanet and back on an eastern route via the Tassili - a stony and difficult region to drive - especially for the biker. Three biker gave up near Tam, because of a crash one was hurt very ugly and another one got difficulties with his gearbox. They returned slowly to Algier while the rest of the group - the Toyo and 2 BMW pilots took up the direction to Djanet. For navigation I bought fine map sheets at Fnac in Paris. The maps are still the same as the french military used it 50 years ago. Some are only black and white - some are coloured in after-treatment by hand. I never will sell them.

ALGERIE - Hoggar

2006-07-09T01:25:00.000-07:00

In the south of ALGERIE the Hoggar mountains are a most impressing point in the SAHARA. From the capital city ALGIER at the mediterranian sea to Tammanrasset near the Hoggar - it´s around 1,900 km to drive. The highest mountain is the Tahat with 2,900 m heigth over sea level. The top you will reach by driving on stony pists - no problem for a Landrover and a driver who knows his car.

Sahara - Bewährungsfeld für Fahrzeuge

2006-07-04T23:29:00.000-07:00

Schon früh haben technisch orientierte Menschen mit Forscherdrang versucht Fahrzeuge zur Durchquerung und Erkundung der Sahara einzusetzen. 1922 startete die erste Citroen Mission mit teils raupengetriebenen Fahrzeugen - Vorderachse Räder - mit nur 10 PS. Doch trugen sie bis zu 2.000 Kg Last.

Ich habe mich 50 Jahre später zum ersten Mal auf nach Afrika gemacht, um in dessen Spuren zu fahren und das Nichts zu erkunden, das manche so stark in Bann schlägt.

Hauptziele waren Ägypten, Tunesien, Algerien, Marokko und Mali. Die meisten Reisen fanden in Algerien statt, dem noch immer meine große Sehnsucht gehört.

Mein Fahrzeug war auf allen Reisen ein Landrover - erst ein 109er, dann ein 110er. Leider heisst der heute Defender, was in meinen Augen großer Blödsinn ist.

Die andere (Auto-) Fraktion fuhr Reisschüsseln - allen voran der Toyota Landcruiser.