Solar Hot Water Heating

We spent some time analyzing the solar hot water heater installed on the Forfar motel. Prior to our arrival we had heard several reports regarding the system. It’s definitely not working, it’s definitely working, it might be working, it might not be working. The students and I discussed the system, during our class, reviewed the design, piping, flow rates, etc. We then decided on a set of changes we believed would improve the performance of the system. As a means of testing these changes we started by installing a Metrima BTU meter. This clever little device measures the temperature on the collector supply and return line, and the flow through the collector loop and reports the kilowatt hours of energy generated by the system. It is a utility grade meter. We then set about making our changes and monitoring the system. Our series of changes included 1) installing a shutoff valve in the electric tank which would require the system to draw off water from the solar tank rather than from the main water line when hot water was in use., 2) cleaning the solar thermal and PV panel driving the pump, 3) replacing the 5 watt PV panel with a 10 W panel, 4) replacing the 3.5 W circulating pump with a 10watt pump, 5) moving the thermal loop return to the electric water heater lower in the tank, and the elecric heating element higher in the tank. Through a systemeatic change and monitor approach we improved the system performance significantly over the week of our studies in solar thermal work. Pictures show the students installing the Metrima and making the first changes to the system. We improved the performance so much that we had to install an antiscald device in the system to ensure no one gets cooked in the shower.

Around Forfar

OK, we are not always talking about, or learning about renewable energy here at Forfar. We do spend time hanging out in the lodge, playing cards, domino’s, scrabble, etc, and taking in the local sights and scenes. Here are few pictures.

Terpy is a local lady who comes in each evening and set's up a small concession stand in the lodge. She offers cokes, candy, jewelry, and other treats for sale to the students.

Forfar Interns

The day to day operations of the Forfar Field Station is handled by a dedicated staff of interns. They manage getting groups on and off the station, logistics of food, fuel, and other necessities, teach classes, facilitate trips, and generally make the place go. They work hard at what they do and were very helpful to us as we worked to get our projects done.

In the backrow we have Leslie, Katie, Lindsey, Megan, Ryan (String), and Bob. In the front row we have Brock, TJ, Rob, and Ryan (Red)

Bahamian Food & Staff Pictures

The food at Forfar is good and no one but the picky eaters go away hungry. Last night the cooks prepared a traditional Bahamian supper for us. Pidgeon Peas and Rice (spiced with coconut milk), Baked macaroni and cheese, Conch fritters (think hush puppies with bits of conch mixed in) and fried grouper (fresh catch with special thanks to Ricardo Riley our maintenance chief). Yummmmmm! Here are a few snaps fo the Forfar staff.

This is Catherine White. She is a bit camera shy but agreed to a picture when I told her I'd make her famous as a cook on the internet. She takes care of breakfast each morning working with Mrs. Fowler.









Here is Portia Riley and Elthy Mae Murphy. These are the ladies who put together the AWSOME Bahamian meal for us. Portia told us she is one of 20 children in her family, born to one woman and one man. She grew up on a farm just north of Stafford Creek. Elthy lives in Stafford Creek and is the mother of three children.


This is Jan Gibson. Jan is our housekeeper in charge of the lodge. She also takes care of our laundry at the station. She resides in Stafford Creek and is always bubbly a bubbly morning person.



This is Joyce Fowler. Always stylish in the kitchen with her hat for the day. She makes all of our sandwich and sweet bread too. I heard stories that if one of the gents happen into the ktichen without their shirt on, they are likely to get a towel snapped on their backside as a reminder that shirts are required. Mrs Fowler has been with Forfar for 20+ years.



This is Maxwell Roberts (aka Daddy Cool) He provides security for Forfar in the evenings from 6:00 PM to midnight. He makes sure everything is locked down for the night and "everthing stays cool". Max is also the pastor of the Miracle Church of God in Stafford Creek.

It Never Rains on Andros In January

We woke to a clear day and set about pumping out our final anchor hole for pouring. Due to the high tide it soon became clear that we could not bail or pump fast enough to keep up with the water so we bagged the pour till the tide went down.

Back in the classroom we began our work on solar thermal systems, and then went down to study the hot water heating system at the Forfar motel. We are formulating our plan for monioting and modifying the system to improve performance.

After lunch we headed out to pour peir #4. We just finished the pour when the rain moved in. So we covered our work, gathere our tools, and headed back to the classroom looking like a bunch of drowned rats. The rain stayed with us till late in the afternoon and though we were anxious to get back out and finish our work, the weather looked iffy so we decided to wait till tomorrow to finish our concrete work.

We learned two things today. You can't fight the tide, and if you want a weather forecast ask Ricardo, not Pete. We did get to enjoy a lovely rainbow at the end of our day.

Bahamian Concrete 101

After our day and night of rain we woke to a lovely day. Our holes were filled with water but Pete Davidson loaned us a bilge pump and we pumped one of them out and started to work. In the US we typically call the concrete compnay and tell them how many yards we need, they back the truck up to the site, and start pouring directly from the truck. Not so here on Andros.

Ricardo is the maintenance chief here at the staion,working here at Forfar for going on 22 years now. He gave gave us a lesson in how concrete is mixed here on the island, instructing us on the finer points of dry mixing the materials first then forming a tray from the dry mix, adding water and turning it into a strong concrete mix. In the US we would add small gravel to the mix. Here we simply drop in some concrete mix and then drop in the large baseball to football size stones to the mix. Repeat, repeat, repeat. The sand here is carbonate based (rather than silica)as is the stone we are tossing in. In addition the carbonate stone is pourous and irregular, so it sucks up the concrete for a strong bond. Since carbonate is the base material of Portland cement the final Bahamian concrete pour is super strong.

Building Rebar Cages

Five of the students are enrolled in the Cultural Studies class and they went off with Pete for lecture and walk/talk down to the Maritime Arts and Inspiration Center. Aaron, Tommy, and I began construction of the rebar cages. The weather was not cooperative, blowing at 20 - 25 knots, so we did our work in the wind shade in back of the odge. We finished our work in time for lunch and then the rain set in. It continued to rain horizontally the balance of the day. Note: My compouter died this weekend so picture posts are delayed but we will catch them up soon.

The Beat Goes On

It was back to work today. We are trying to finalize our digging and be ready to pour concrete on Monday. Our missing rebar came in on the flight today so we should be good to go. We're are having one issue that we did not expect. Some of our foundation holes fill with water at high tide, and empty out at low tide. So we will do it the Bahamian way, and go with the flow. Concrete pour starts at low tide.

Exam Day and Junkanoo

Students had there exam day today. There was much groaning after the fact. Comments from two of the students indicated this might have been the most difficult exam they have had in all of their studies. Well, at least they all had Junkanoo to look forward too, following the exam, and they now have proper expectaions for the rest of the course work and future exams.

After finishing the exam, we loaded into vans with the Eco Tourism students and headed to Nichols Town. The costumes, dancing, and drumming were very entertaining. Junkanoo is a celebration initiated by the slave population of Andros. It celebrated the three days per year the slaves were free from work; Christmas, Boxing Day, and New Years. Tradition has it that the remnants of Christmas wrapping paper and boxes were used to make colorful costumes and masks. These were integrated with customs and dances from the African culture of the slave population. The festival is celebrated in the fashion of Carnival and Mardi Gra. It's quite the party on Nassau we are told. This local celebration was held at the local high school and was well attended by the local community. Children traveled up to 50 miles to attend and compete. They were adorable and they all had their groove thing goin' on.

The Big Dig Continues

We continued our efforts on digging footers today. There were definitely a few sore muscles, blisters, and/or abrasions. Tough going but the students worked hard and we are making progress. We also finished our curriculuum on wind turbines. Exam day is tomorrow.

Pete Davidson gave an evening lecture on the local festival called Junkanoo. We are going out tomorrow to see the junior Junkanoo festival at Nichols Town. It's a competition between the local primary and preschools for the best costumes, song, dance, etc. We are looking forward to it.

The Big Dig

We started our day with a brief lecture till 10:0 AM and then went out to start the Big Dig. We have 5 peers to dig, form, and pour to support the turbine. Each is 3 feet in diameter and 4 feet deep. This would be one matter if we were simply shoveling sand out of the ground. Unfortunately we have a few inches of sand then you hit limestone, ancient coral, which verys between hard and very hard. The students worked diligently, shredded a few pairs of gloves, got a few blisters, and worked really hard.

ForFar Walkabout, Rock Party, and Wind Lectures

We began our morning with a walkbout the grounds of Forfar with Ricardo. Ricardo has been with Forfar for going on 22 years and manages the facility maintenance. He gave us a tour of the electrical, water, and waste disposal systems at the station. During our stay the students will make some evaluations of the stations energy usage and make receommendations regarding conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy projects.

After our walk we took a trip with Pete Davidson to a local qurry site to collect stone for our footers. This brings new meaning the to term "rock party"


After our morning rock party, we then headed into the classroom to learn the theoretical aspects of wind energy. The class went well but by 4:00 PM eyes were glazing over so we headed outside to play with some of our toys; the hand held anemometer, the Kill-A-Watt, and the Solar Pathfinder.

Classes Begin

We got things rolling in the classroom today, starting with an overview of the Skystream turbine, and our initial objective of determining the status of our equipment which had been shipped to Forfar.

Fortunately all the delicate components seem to have arrived in good shape. Unfortuantely we are missing some of the rebar needed for the foundation peers. Seems to have gone missing in transit. We are blessed though, in that our local goto guy, Pete Davidson, knows where and how to get most everything so we will work past this.

Once we completed our inventory we headed out to site the turbine. Using a two string lines for marking the axis of the turbine foundations we shifted, rotated and ended up with a location that we are all happy with. Pictures you see Henry acting as the Tower anchor, Aaron, as the west anchor, and Elizaebth making sure we've all got it right. Jason serves as the south anchor, Tommy serves as the turbine head, and Joel serves as the North anchor. We're thinking of patenting this new turbine siting method.

Sunday a day of R and R

The staff offered us wonderful opportunity to go out for a snorkel trip today. The weather and water were fantastic. Tommy and Mike stayed behind at Forfar the rest of us had a great day in the sun and surf. Our Captain and First Mate are Sage and Linsey. Competant boaters and spearfishers, and good company.

Happy to Be Here

We were all happy to be on Forfar. Here's some of the gang chillin on Saturday evening.

We Made it to Forfar

We all arrived in Ft Lauderdale on Friday. Yeah! Depending on arrival time we all spent 12 - 24 hours there and this was long enough. We caught our plane at 1:30 PM on Saturday and we had good flight over to the island. Here we are all ready to go. Left to right we have Mike Russo, Tommy Adkins, Joel Atkins, Jason Rainey, Carl Adams, Elizabeth Farrel, Henry Levine, and Aaron Shaeffer. W also got a bonus rainbow to greet us as we approached the Andros airport.

What's Happening at Forfar Station on Andros, Bahamas

I'm headed off to Andros Island, Bahamas for the next 5 weeks where I'll be teaching a class for Hocking College. The course is part of the Alternative Energy program and the students and I will look at four technology areas: Wind, Solar PV, Solar Thermal, and Micro Hydro. For me this is a change from my day job for Dovetail Solar and Wind where I work as Dovetails project manager for Southwest Ohio. Many thanks to Dovetail for granting me some time off to do this work, and escape the Ohio winter.

Our big project for the 5 week term will be the installation of a Skystream 3.7 wind turbine on a 70 foot tilt up tower. In addition we will also do some work on the existing solar hot water heating and PV systems at ForFar Station. Where is Forfar ?

It has been a great deal of work just to get ready for this trip. I'm used to coordinating projects locally but it adds a whole new dimension to orchestrate one that is located 1500 miles away. One thing we will have to deal with is limited availability of hardware on the island. In Cincinnati, where I'm based, we have all the big box stores (Lowes, Home Depot) etc, and hundreds of specialty suppliers. Not so on the island, so I've tried to make sure we have everything we will need once we get there. We shall see :D

Today I will pack my tools, and the last few bits of miscellaneous hardware to take with me. I'm a real believer in packing light so this trip will be a big exception. I expect my checked luggage will weigh in excess of 200 lbs. Ugghhh!

I fly Friday to Ft Lauderdale, and then on to Andros on Saturday. I'll meet the students again and will post again with more info on them and the class as it unfolds at Forfar.