Calling all the engineers out here!

[Rafael]

Read through (little cursorily) the link that you've quoted. Some of the ideas are good, but a little contemporary in direction. For starters, that idea of spraying an insulation is good, but I don't know how much it'll cost. Alternative plan- if you are using a RCC framed method of construction then consider "cavity walls" on the outside. These are walls (in parallel) of single brick thickness with a small air-gap between them. This replicates the "four foot thick wall" that is written about at the beginning, without being nowhere nearly as thick. After all with land prices climbing, one does'nt want to even lose a "postage stamp size" area of floor space. In Rajasthan (back in the good old days) they even flowed water into the cavity in summer! But that would be highly impractical now!

About the 20ft high ceilings, now even that is an impracticality. However one could consider raising the roof on one (or more?) side of a non-airconditioned part of the house to 15+ft or so and incorporating a vent to naturally exhaust hot-air through it . That might even help to give the house an interesting elevation from the outside.

Painting the roof is a good idea, but will need repititive maintenance. Another idea to reflect heat of the roof (a traditional one) was to lay out small bits and pieces of broken glazed tiles into cement on the roof. This was traditionally called "kowdi-kaam" in some parts of India. Though they used broken pieces of crockery initially! The material can be bought by the bagful at rock-bottom prices (since its junk anyway) and after installation is maintenance free. Though one caveat: if your area has decent rainfall, then make sure that the water-proofing on the roof is done well, since you do not want to uproot it the "kowdi" layer to repair it later.

Put most of (or your largest) windows on the North face. Minimise openings on other sides or have shaded awnings on those windows to reduce radiated heat (glare). In the old days, houses had shaded open corridors aka "verandas" running around the house which reduced radiated heat hugely, but may not be practical now. Another feature of old houses was the central open courtyard called the "aangan" It got direct sunlight only for a short part of the day since the structure shaded it most of the time. This feature may be worth re-inventing in a more contemporary and workable form, as it can become a central location where the family and friends can gather together and sit out, even with a barbecue! But its only an idea.

Trees have a great role in shading the property from heat and some-times even as a wind-breaker. Can be used very effectively. According to me, planting a "neem" tree in the sub-continent is a must as it helps to keep insects and pests at bay. And there is a long held belief that it helps to keep residents healthy, though I can't say much about that.

Thanks for the detailed post.

The insulations and cavity walls are already in my mind. The window position and the white paint is a good idea too. Neem tree is also a must and that too close to the windows. The only thing that is not practical, like you have said is a 20 ft ceiling but I will talk to my architect about that, lets see what has he got to offer.

Now all I need is a cheap and permanent energy source which can help me getting rid of this stupid Wapda!

Anyways, thanks for your input. Much appreciated

 

[Rafael]

Oh, I see. But I have heard gas load shedding happens only in winter and not in summer when electricity is more in demand. Anyways, I guess then if you had a bi-fuel generator that runs on natural and another fuel like petrol then things would be more versatile. You can do another thing. Get a high out put UPS like those ones that can supply 5 KVA with probably 15 KVA of battery capacity. It would be expensive but then it can get you through the winter. For summer you can use both the UPS as well as an automatic gas generator which automatically starts up when mains electricity goes down. One of my friend had installed such a gas generator and he was happy with it. Though his was a locally made one, with 30 KVA capacity. Basically what they had done was taking out a Corolla 86 engine and made a generator out of that run on gas. It was a monster and could light up the entire big house with 4 air conditioning units and every thing else running on it. And the big side was that it was cheap. If you do not have gas load shedding during summer, you should consider an automatic gas generator and a high output UPS for winter when gas load shedding is there.

Oh well, since last year it was limited to the winters only but recently it has started in the summers too. I have seen that local 30 kVA generator you are talking about, one of my cousin has it installed but there are 2 problems with it.

1 - It is illegal, as it requires a bigger gas connection which is not allowed for the households.
2 - Again, I am having problems supplying gas to the 5 kVA generator, 30 kVA ki kahaan seya aye gi?

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Thanks for the detailed post.

The insulations and cavity walls are already in my mind. The window position and the white paint is a good idea too. Neem tree is also a must and that too close to the windows. The only thing that is not practical, like you have said is a 20 ft ceiling but I will talk to my architect about that, lets see what has he got to offer.

Now all I need is a cheap and permanent energy source which can help me getting rid of this stupid Wapda!

Anyways, thanks for your input. Much appreciated

You're welcome. I'm neither an architect or an engineer, but have always enjoyed making them earn thir keep!
But get comparitive quotes on the various options available. After all cost is a serious parameter.

But I sincerely feel that any thought and effort that you make to control your energy needs will give you the real long term payoff. Plus it will save you the bother that you have mentioned in your posts.

 

[Awesome]

10kw 10000w 10kva home solar power system supply 28kw-42kw a day off grid solar pv system solar electricity solar power system products, buy 10kw 10000w 10kva home solar power system supply 28kw-42kw a day off grid solar pv system solar electricity s

Let me know how the project goes. This has been my long time wish to do in Pakistan as well.

 

[longbrained]

Oh well, since last year it was limited to the winters only but recently it has started in the summers too. I have seen that local 30 kVA generator you are talking about, one of my cousin has it installed but there are 2 problems with it.

1 - It is illegal, as it requires a bigger gas connection which is not allowed for the households.
2 - Again, I am having problems supplying gas to the 5 kVA generator, 30 kVA ki kahaan seya aye gi?

Hmmm, I guess the problem then is bigger. If gas is not there, then the situation is a bit weird since liquid fuel is very expensive to be used for electricity generation. Good normal diesel generators just produce 4 KW per every liter of diesel so it would not be cheap. Bio-fuels are not available and when they become available, they are going to be as expensive as diesel since fertile land is used to harvest them. I am sorry to say that your only hope to cheaply generate large enough amount of power for a house is natural gas. Solar panels and small wind turbines can augment some power for small applications but to power up a house you would definitely need a generator. On this I would suggest the gas microturbines. They might not be available in Pakistan yet, but I had seen one at an expo abroad. They run on different fuels and are very low maintenance machines. You would have to have some one in US or Canada to bring it or send it for you. The recuperated ones are much more efficient than normal generators and when gas is not there, you can use diesel to power them up. Hook it up with a high output UPS and you can say good bye to WAPDA.

 

[Rafael]

You're welcome. I'm neither an architect or an engineer, but have always enjoyed making them earn thir keep!
But get comparitive quotes on the various options available. After all cost is a serious parameter.

But I sincerely feel that any thought and effort that you make to control your energy needs will give you the real long term payoff. Plus it will save you the bother that you have mentioned in your posts.

True that. In this part of the world, It is a norm to build bigger houses if you can afford it but now the situation is getting worse and people are realizing that small, compact, maintenance free, and energy efficient house is a way to go in future.

10kw 10000w 10kva home solar power system supply 28kw-42kw a day off grid solar pv system solar electricity solar power system products, buy 10kw 10000w 10kva home solar power system supply 28kw-42kw a day off grid solar pv system solar electricity s

Let me know how the project goes. This has been my long time wish to do in Pakistan as well.

Thanks for the link Asim, but are Chinese companies reliable in this field? I heard Germans are better and more experienced when it comes to solar panels?

 

[longbrained]

True that. In this part of the world, It is a norm to build bigger houses if you can afford it but now the situation is getting worse and people are realizing that small, compact, maintenance free, and energy efficient house is a way to go in future.



Thanks for the link Asim, but are Chinese companies reliable in this field? I heard Germans are better and more experienced when it comes to solar panels?

The product Asim showed has a two year warranty. Germans are better but you pay more as well.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

True that. In this part of the world, It is a norm to build bigger houses if you can afford it but now the situation is getting worse and people are realizing that small, compact, maintenance free, and energy efficient house is a way to go in future.



Thanks for the link Asim, but are Chinese companies reliable in this field? I heard Germans are better and more experienced when it comes to solar panels?

Thanks for the first point, then we can take care of our needs (the smaller picture) while helping to tackle the community's needs (the larger picture).

About the second point, your apprehensions are valid. I have friends/associates in India who have had interesting experiences while dealing with Chinese sources. They were hard-headed businessmen! So deal with a professional agency in Pakistan regarding tech equipment unless you are confident of handling the matter. You'll then be able to fix the accountabality.

 

[Last Hope]

Raheel.

If I am not mistaken, you live in Lahore. You can go to Hall Road, where you will find all sorts of Solar Cells. From micro-sized to large ones. You will need to buy multiple of the largest ones, connect them with appropriate circuits to get the desirable output. Be cautious not to try to set the circuit up yourself, you could damage the expensive cells and batteries, but hire a Electrical Engineer who can help you with it.

As for a well-laid, built to specification, you can import it. But that will cost you more than the earlier advice I gave, as the custom duties are expensive so is the system.

You can also google or search on youtube, possible suppliers of these cells. There are plenty out there.
Good luck.

 

[Awesome]

True that. In this part of the world, It is a norm to build bigger houses if you can afford it but now the situation is getting worse and people are realizing that small, compact, maintenance free, and energy efficient house is a way to go in future.



True that. In this part of the world, It is a norm to build bigger houses if you can afford it but now the situation is getting worse and people are realizing that small, compact, maintenance free, and energy efficient house is a way to go in future.



Thanks for the link Asim, but are Chinese companies reliable in this field? I hear Germans are better and more experienced?

The power requirements are huge and so are the costs of installing the generators. Maybe a mix of things is needed. Get Chinese panels and other batteries for the UPS or inverse, depending upon what your research reveals.

Chinese UPS are already in the Pakistani market and there is a lot of maintenance costs involving Solar panels and UPS. So you want to buy something for which there is warranty and local support available. Replaceable parts should be available at home and the possibility to upgrade and mix varying types of panels should be there too.

Most likely when you factor in the costs (one time and recurring) you would like to start small and then build.

Start with heating water(cost of electric water geyser), upgrade to running electric heaters and the stove (see now you got to factor in the costs of electric heater and electric stove) and the move to powering lights and fans (part time... then upgrade more to full time).

Point is maintenance costs are huge and if your power requirements are not so that your utilization of the generated power is high you may notice that there is not much benefit (there will still be some cost reduction) in going through all the pain. Alternative power generation methods are best used when a whole community steps up and forms some way of free power.

A mix of solar and wind energy for a community on a larger scale would ultimately bring in the benefits.

 

[somebozo]

Raheel.

If I am not mistaken, you live in Lahore. You can go to Hall Road, where you will find all sorts of Solar Cells. From micro-sized to large ones. You will need to buy multiple of the largest ones, connect them with appropriate circuits to get the desirable output. Be cautious not to try to set the circuit up yourself, you could damage the expensive cells and batteries, but hire a Electrical Engineer who can help you with it.

As for a well-laid, built to specification, you can import it. But that will cost you more than the earlier advice I gave, as the custom duties are expensive so is the system.

You can also google or search on youtube, possible suppliers of these cells. There are plenty out there.
Good luck.

The problem is that these cells will oxidize over time and turn into useless sheets of glass. To properly expose them to outdoor environment for efficient operation one needs to seal them in a panel of glass to keep air and moisture out. The DuPont photovoltic panel sealant cost an awful amount of money and this is where all the DIY panels fail.

Commercially produced panels use lamination which require use of massive industrial machinery.

 

[Safriz]

guys come up with solutions.
dont scare the Poor OP.

 

[rai_kamal]

Come to gujarat, we have even got the way to generate electricity , by mounting solar cell on top of canal and river...
Believe it or not it is a true fact...

 

[SQ8]

Better you look at a certain company that is importing those vertical windmills(possibly have switched over to domestic production).
Each 3.5m high mill takes up little space.. and generates something around 1.5kv

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Better you look at a certain company that is importing those vertical windmills(possibly have switched over to domestic production).
Each 3.5m high mill takes up little space.. and generates something around 1.5kv

There is an intresting manufacturer called URBAN GREEN ENERGY from USA which has a range of vertical windmills called the EDDY series, very small footprint.
check out: UGE | Empowering you with renewable energy