Location and Requirements

Located on the edge of the Rift Valley at the outskirts of Nairobi, a place not connected to utility power supply but very windy. Loads for Dr. Leakey's house include:

20 Bulbs Staff Quarters

48 Bulbs Main House

02 40 watts Fluorescent fittings

01 Deep Freezer

01 Fridge

01 Computer

01 Music System

01 Coffee Grinder

01 Food Mixer

01 Centrifuge.

System composition The system powering all the above loads comprises of:

01 Whisper 3000 Watts Wind Generator

01 2400 Watts Inverter

01 2800AH Battery Bank

Accessories

Since the system was installed in 1994 Dr. Leakey has enjoyed uninterrupted free electricity to power all his loads and running a normal life! From an investment point of view he got not only all his money back but many years of comfortable life.

Clients Comments

My conversion to alternative energy sources was in part encouraged by the frequent frustration of being a Nairobi house owner suffering from power black-outs and the not so long ago chronic shortages of cooking gas. The frequent problems arising from government incompetence in regards to energy planning and supply is something one cannot ever get used to. Anyway 10 years ago, I relocated my residence from the Nairobi suburbs to a place where there were no possibilities (affordable ones anyway) of having the supply of electricity provided by the Kenya Power company and I had to become self sufficient.

My initial solution was to install diesel driven generators. These work but they are costly to maintain and they surely are both noisy and dirty. Solar panels and photovoltaic systems helped but there always were several days a month when the sun failed to shine and flat batteries and cold water were the cause of some unhappy evenings.

I happen to live in a place where there is usually a steady wind. Indeed, on some days, we seem to live in a gale but there are few days when there is no wind at all. Someone suggested we use the wind to generate our power needs and this is what we now have.

Essentially, I operate a system that has several back-ups. The main source of power is the Whisper 3000 unit, which stores electricity in a bank of batteries. This is converted through a 2.5 KV inverter to AC and I run lights, deep freeze and normal household appliances for a good sized establishment. We use solar heating for domestic water and on cloudy cold days that are windy, I can boost the hot water by using the immersion heaters. When there is no sun and no wind either, I use the diesel generator for a few hours.

Although capital out-lay has not been insignificant, the results are most satisfactory. We do not have blackouts; there is always power. For most of the year 24 hours a day there is a steady supply of clean energy.

What are the problems? The main problem is the battery issue. These are expensive and need constant attention. I also think that one can be tempted to save money by installing a power unit that is too small and in so doing, suffer from all the frequent low batteries. The larger wind generators produce more efficiently.

I believe that a system exit of wind with a photovoltaic back-up charging system would work well enough to dispense with the diesel generator. If I were starting again, this would be my option. The safety of solar panels is a problem and some effective anti-theft devices need to be thought of, it can be done.

I have been asked whether I would go on record to recommend wind and photovoltaic systems. Absolutely yes; they are well worth the investment.

Richard Leakey

October 27, 1997