At the flick of a switch a building can be filled with light, cold water can be made hot or turned to ice.
This is all done by electricity, generated by the use of natural fuels. However, as we move into a new era, government is working on a number of other ways to achieve the same objectives by using what could be seen as safer and healthier methods.
The National Council for Science and Technology (NCST) along with the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus, the Ministry of Education and Energy and the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture are working on a comprehensive programme that addresses some of the areas of solar technology that could be handled in Barbados.
Director of the National Council for Science and Technology, Dr. Eslie Alleyne, explained that the solar stills project was started about two years ago - the brain child of CERMES headed by Professor Oliver Headley. He said that the NCST felt that there was a need to harmonise science and technology solar activities throughout Barbados, and decided to combine the human resources in the various Government departments to work with CERMES. One of the main reasons for introducing this project is to provide energy by healthier methods.
"We recognise that there are a number of problems associated with fossil fuels, primarily the environmental consequences of their use and we felt that a country like Barbados that depends heavily on imported fuels and which possesses the technology for solar energy could benefit from this project," he said. Alleyne added that Barbados was already familiar with the use of solar technology in the form of water heating. "It is just a simple shift from solar water heating," he noted.
There are four different aspects of the programme. The first is the use of solar energy for the preparation of distilled water for use by secondary school students in their chemistry, physics and biology laboratories. This water is currently being bought for use in the schools, but with the use of solar stills technology the students will be able to produce their own water. The students have already been trained to manufacture the solar stills used in the process of making distilled water. This venture by the schools is expected to reach a level where they will be selling the excess distilled water to pharmacies, gas stations and other businesses that use distilled water.
Another aspect of the project is the lighting of Government Headquarters using photo voltaic cells. Alleyne describes this as "a different kind of mechanism which stores solar power and then generates electricity and lighting". Photo voltaic cells are just another mechanism of storing energy created by the sun and there are panels or sheets of cells that would absorb the sunlight and transform it into another form of energy which would be lighting in this instance.This is a pilot project that started by lighting the surroundings of Government Headquarters. Later it will be expanded to other areas of lighting.
The third phase of the project is the making of ice for ice boats and for use at a number of fish markets around the island. This is being done to assist the fishermen who have expressed concern that that the current ice machines were malfunctioning quite often and they could not obtain enough ice when it was needed. This project will begin at number of fish markets around the island.
Solar air conditioning is also being considered as a possible project. This is a continuation of a programme that started at CERMES, where Professor Headley and his students are working on expanding the solar cooling mechanism. (Barbados Government Information Service)