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Community approaches to a better environment for all and poverty reduction in out of reach communities of rural Azerbaijan

Practical training how to construct solar collector, fruit dryer and solar distiller was carried out in project regions in Azerbaijan

10.08.2010 |Anna Samwel

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solar fruit drying in Azerbaijan

Three solar applications for rural households have been built during a  training which took place from 29th of June until 2nd of July  in the village Syguovshan, Sabirabat region, and in Saatli. A solar warm water heater, a solar fruit and vegetable dryer and a solar water distiller were built. It was organized by WECF and EKOT(Azerbaijan). Experts from RCDA, long term partner of WECF trained the participants and EKOT staff and shared their experience and knowledge  about the construction, operation and maintenance of the new built facilities.

The training took place in the frame of the project “Community approaches to a better environment for all and poverty reduction in out of reach communities of rural Azerbaijan”, financed by the European Commission and the Finnish Ministry of  Foreign Affairs in cooperation with the NGO ‘Ketu’,.

Saatli and Sabirabat regions are one of the hottest areas in Azerbaijan and have high number of sun hours, making them appropriate for  applying solar systems which can serve for  improvement the life of the local citizens.. There is a lack of fire wood in the region, the  gas and electricity are very expensive, some people spend almost half of their monthly income on energy supply. Most people depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, and solar fruit drying is an appropriate way to conserve fruits and vegetables for winter time or to add value for market selling.
During previous PRA sessions, village meetings and the study visit to Georgia, the communities involved in the project prioritized the solar collector, fruit dryer and the solar distiller as suitable technologies to improve their livelihoods. They had the opportunity to visit and test different alternative technologies during their study visit in Georgia which was held in April 2010.
http://wecf.eu/english/articles/2010/05/training-georgia.php

The villagers in both regions depend for their drinking water on the irrigation channels, which have  turbid and polluted with bacteria water. Before using the water, the local citizens boil it. The newly built distiller will  provide clean water for free as long as the sun shines.

The proposed technologies in this project are made of local low cost materials and can be built by local people. After they are installed, it is easy to operate and maintain them and no further input is needed.






The training consisted of a whole day of construction work and theoretical lessons during the second day - about the principles of the technologies and common mistakes of installation were discussed with the participants. Despite temperatures of well above 40°C, participants agreed to work from 8:00 until 21:00 in order to finish the installations and leave them in operation when the training ends. The training duration was 4 days – the first day the solar collector was started, and it  was finished the second day. The third day it was installed. The water started boiling in the heat exchanger. The second and fourth day a solar water distiller was constructed and the third day a solar fruit dryer was made. It was hard to find appropriate, non toxic paint to paint the distiller, but it could be obtained in Baku after the training. Participants received certificates at the end of the training. They are able to construct the technologies themselves after active participation in the training. The most active participants have already received inquiries from other villagers to construct for them a distiller, collector or dryer.

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