Donations being accepted at Vegas Trailer Supply for Disaster Victims

We will accept donations to get solar products, especially solar cookers to the disaster area. Efforts are being made to find ways of getting these products to the area. Contacts are also being made to identify any programs or efforts that others are doing to get solar products to the affected countries. As you can see by the previous posts, many solar products can help these people! If you know of groups or organizations that are air lifting supplies, won't you help us get solar products on board? Let's make this happen!

All the best, Michael (contact information in previous posts)

Solar Products can Help for Disaster Aftermath

The problem is getting it to the people who need them most, but several solar products can help with disaster remedial tasks:

Home-made Cardboard Cookers
Using 1-2 cardboard boxes or wood, aluminum foil and glue, a home-made cooker can be made that will cook a meal for 3-4 people. Plans are on the net. Cost USD: $1-2 LINK LINK

Small Fold-up Solar Cookers
Small inexpensive pre-made cardboard cookers can cook a meal a day for a family of five. Several litres of water can be pasteurized as well. Rice, a staple, is cooked easily in 1 - 2 hours with no food sticking to the pan requiring little or no clean-up. Cost USD: $20 LINK

Medium Sized SOS Sport
This manufactured product can cook larger quantities of food at a rate and temperature similar to the above cookers. 1-2 meals a day for a family of six. Cost USD: $120 LINK

Larger Global Sun Oven
The Global Sun Oven will reach higher temperatures approaching regular home oven temps. All cookers can pasteurize water. This oven can cook 2-3 meals for a family of six each day. Bread and meats cook up quickly and easily. Cost USD: $230 LINK

Giant Villager Sun Oven
This rugged cooker will cook up to 1200 meals in one day! It will cook hundreds of loaves of bread or a variety of foods for approximately 600 people. It is estimated that one Villager can save the equivalent of 364,000 pounds of cooking wood a year! There are about 200 of these mammoths in the world, there needs to be 200,000! The Villager is mounted on a small trailer for transport. Obviously this unit is valuable for areas that have intermittent or non-existing fuel supplies. Cost USD: $11,000 LINK

Photovoltaic Solar Modules (PV)
These PV panels come in a variety of sizes and wattage outputs. Any configuration of these panels will provide power for emergency lighting, communications and refrigeration (see below). The larger the panels, the more power available. Larger PV modules above 6 watts must have a controller. All panels must be connected to deep-cycle or golf-cart type batteries to store the energy for night-time or later use. Currently supplies and stocks are very low in the US and world. Cost USD: $80 - $700 each.

SunDanzer Solar Refrigerator
Invented by NASA, this new technology uses energy from batteries supplied by solar panels to refrigerate food and medicines. One 75-100 watt panel will keep this 5.8 cubic foot chest-type refrigerator running continuously. A larger 8 cubic foot model is available. Both sizes also come in freezer models, or a refrigerator can easily be converted to a freezer in the field with the addition of a $40 (USD) thermostat. Cost USD: $950 - $1050 LINK

We have most of these items in stock in Las Vegas at Vegas Trailer Supply. I can have these items drop-shipped to you to save on shipping costs. It is up to you to figure out how to get them to those who need it most. Call me at 702 457-4265 if you need more information or wish to place an order. I can also be reached through our toll-free number at 1-800-640-0766 (USA).

You can email me: Michael Little

For more information please visit these links:

Vegas Trailer Supply Solar Living
greenSun.org
Sun Ovens International
Solar Cookers International
Solar Oven Society
Solar Cooking Archive

Thank you, and may God bless you in your efforts!

Tsunami Relief Organizations

Here is a list of the relief organizations working in the disaster area: USAID

Other important information: Fact Sheets and Tsunami Information

Godspeed my friends.

Victims of disasters like the Asian Tsunami can benefit from solar.

As of this moment, over 52,000 lives have been lost due to the recent tsunami in the Indian Ocean. Thousands more could be added to this dreadful list and the total amount of deaths could double before conditions stabilize according to a recent report on MSN.com: Tsunami Update Page

Perhaps the most immediate critical condition is the lack of drinking water. Two solar devices can help: Solar cookers and solar distillers. The problem is getting these devices to the people who need them most. Luckily India has been very active with solar cooking in recent months and it is hoped that some of these devices can be relocated to the affected areas.

A small cardboard solar cooker can pasteurize fouled drinking water in about an hour during an emergency. The water heats up to a safe point in about an hour per quart.

Part of the problem is that the salty sea water has fouled the drinking water wells that are used for drinking water. The method mentioned above can not take out the salt, it can only kill the harmful bacteria. To distill sea water one would need a distiller, a solar distiller.

It is hoped that communities and villages can start to prepare for emergencies by stockpiling these solar devices so that they can be deployed quickly in an emergency. Unfortunately for the affected communities in the Indian Ocean region, it is doubtful that anyone has these devices at their immediate disposal.

Many solar products can be life savers during and after a disaster. It is hoped that the reader takes the necessary steps to prepare for any contingency by obtaining and using the solar devices outlined in this blog.

To those of you not in the region of this terrible tsunami, please have a good day.