Biraj Gautam and Rabin Shrestha share their lessons from the latest visits to the micro hydro power sites in Jumla and Baglung.
Open-Source courses on Electronic Load Controller in Southeast Asia
This collaborative project with Green Empowerment, Tonibung and Sibat currently promotes capacity building and technology access to Southeast-East Asian micro-hydro practitioners. Recently they offered intensive 2-week courses on the technology of Electronic Load Controllers (ELC), which is the crucial component for well-functioning for micro-hydro systems.
Our three collaboration partners Green Empowerment, Tonibung (Malaysia) and Sibat(Phillipines) further pursued their commitment to spread open source knowledge on the crucial technology of ELC systems for micro-hydro systems and offered an intensive 2-week course for the knowledge exchange. The organization and execution of the in-person exchange was held at Tonibung and GE’s Centre for Renewable Energy and Technology (CREATE) and involved an impressive program for participants from different regions of Southeast Asia.
The participants could learn in theory lessons about the design theory behind ELCs, together with hands-on built-out sessions of ELC technology, so that the participants received a complete insight into the technology. All of the participants showed commitment and enthusiasm to lean about ELC technology and maintained their motivation throughout more than 3 hours of theory lessons each morning and additionally 10-12 hours of practice sessions every day.
After absolving this course the participants were equipped with complete knowledge of all necessary components and how to build devices off the shelf in any country. Also the participants discussed collaboration opportunities with academic institutions and research organizations in order to step forward and continuing innovations in this technology. Even one participant committed to establish a manufacturing branch in his home workshop dedicated to ELC development. Generally speaking, the participants found the knowledge exchange useful in ensuring that there was a balance between the theoretical and practical elements of ELC design, assembly, and troubleshooting. There was also appreciation that time was given to allowing participants to share about their experiences in their own countries.
Find out more about the knowledge exchange her: Exchange: Strengthening Open-Source ELC Development in Southeast Asia (SEPS16)
