Enough power to connect to radio

By: Michelle Joy L. Padayhag March 26,2016 - 10:35 PM

At left is a solar panel the size of a shoe box lid provided to every house in Hilantagaan islet. at right, Gabriel Ofqueria makes use of batteries to power his solar lamp. (CDN PHOTO/MICHELLE JOY L. PADAYHAG)

At left is a solar panel the size of a shoe box lid provided to every house in Hilantagaan islet. at right, Gabriel Ofqueria makes use of batteries to power his solar lamp. (CDN PHOTO/MICHELLE JOY L. PADAYHAG)

A SOLAR panel, the size of the lid of a shoe box, supplies power to the Ofqueria family enough to enable them to listen to their favorite radio dramas in the morning.

At night, generator sets provide electricity for four hours.

For the last 10 years, the 880 houses in Barangay Hilantagaan, an islet off the coast of Santa Fe town in Bantayan Island, has been relying on solar energy  and generators for their power supply.

Each house has a solar panel, the same size as that of the Ofqueria family, placed on the roof. To connect to the generators, each household pays P100 for 20 days power supply.

“Inig human sa upat ka oras inig ka gabie kay ngitngit na. Mamaypay me sa gawas para dili init, (After 4 hours at night, it is totally dark. We fan ourselves outside the house so it is not so warm.)” said 65-year old fisherman Gabriel Ofqueria.

INNOVATION

Ofqueria said he wanted a second radio, albeit a small one. In order to power it, he said he cut off a portion of the solar panel, the size of a chip, connected his radio through wires and when it was exposed to sunlight, the small radio could get a signal strong enough to air a local program.

He also repaired his solar lamp, which was damaged during the super typhoon Yolanda, using five used batteries, connected into a series, to power the lamp.

“Magamit nako ni siya ug usa o duha ka bulan sad. Pero kung bag-o ang battery kay mo dagan pud ug sobra duha ka bulan, (I can use this for around one to two months. But if I use new batteries, it would run for more than two months)” Ofqueria said.

He now uses the solar lamp in the evening when he goes out to fish.

Generators

Hilantagaan barangay captain Roger Segovia told Cebu Daily News that there are twenty generator sets in the islet.

They need 70 liters of gasoline to run all the generators from 6 to 10 p.m.

Because of the coming elections, the barangay will purchase additional liters of gasoline in case voting will need to be extended beyond those hours.

Santa Fe mayor Jose Esgana told CDN that on April 5 and 6, representatives from National Power Corporation (NPC) Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) will set up additional generator sets in the islet.

Wind Turbines

Esgana said these generator sets can be used as back up for the proposed wind turbine to be set up in the islet.

Rockies International Inc., whose main office is in Seoul, South Korea, submitted a Letter of Intent to the local government of Santa Fe, to set up wind turbines in the islet.

Esgana said if the project is successful, it can augment the power supply in the Hilantagaan islet and other islets in the area and the town of Santa Fe, which is in Bantayan Island.

Power Interruption

Meanwhile, Santa Fe experienced power outages on Holy Thursday and Good Friday. In Barangay Talisay, power interruption was experienced from 11 p.m. to  2 a.m.

Mayor Esgana said power outages are now shorter in duration compared to last month.

Engineer Lee Rivera, general manager of the Bantayan Electric Cooperative said that the power interruption experienced last Thursday and Friday was due to repairs of main line in the town of Santa Fe.

“The power situation in the three towns of whole island is now stable after the two generators were repaired weeks ago,”  Rivera told CDN.

Bantayan Island, especially the town of Santa Fe, had been experiencing severe power outages lasting more than 10 hours due two defective generators.

Rivera said these generators have been repaired after spare parts were delivered.

There are 50 solar street lights installed along the highway to ensure safety of motorists during nighttime in case of power interruptions.

The cost for the 50 solar street lights is P3 million.  “So far the situation is better compared weeks ago,” he added.

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TAGS: Bantayan Island, Cebu, electricity, energy, power, radio, solar power

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