On Aug 12, 2008, at 11:56 PM, Edward Cherlin wrote:
> Can you provide details of your solar installations? We want to
> understand cost per user, how reliable solar power is (depending on
> weather), and other issues.
Our cost with shipping and duty to Nicaragua was $39 USD per solar
panel. They're currently held up at the airport for "processing",
so we likely won't have field use of them for a week or two.
I have one myself and have tried it several times. In direct
sunlight, it powers a completely depleted laptop in real-time (with
full screen brightness), but when a cloud passes over, the laptop
turns off. (Not exaggerating.) It's really important to get a
little charge going first to cover the "cloud time". Charging is
slower than an AC cord ... haven't fully charged a laptop with the
panel yet ... my guess is that it'd take about twice as long as AC in
full sunlight. As for how we plan to use them, none of us really
know yet (it's a pilot). A full class with solar panels isn't likely
unless they meet outside. Having lots of laptops charge in the
playground for four hours is also problematic.
> You say you use an improv style, but I assume you also have training
> materials. Where are they, and can others use them?
Our beta courseware screencasts are here:
http://waveplace.com/resources/tutorials/Sign up for an account to get access to all thirty lessons. This is
what we're using in Haiti and Nicaragua (with bilingual mentors) and
what we used in Florida.
At this point, we just have screencasts and a workbook detailing the
points to cover in each lesson (text is on the lesson pages). We will
have completely new screencasts, a teacher textbook, and student
workbook this fall.
Take care,
Tim
--
Timothy Falconer
http://bigfractaltangle.com610-393-1889 mobile
Immuexa Corporation
http://immuexa.com610-797-3100
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