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The first pilot solar water heater at Balaju Yantra Shala (BYS) Plumbing Division was made in autumn 1974. It was constructed from an old electric hot water tank and a small, self-made collector. After considerable experiment, improved solar water heaters were supplied to the boarding school at Budhanilkantha. For BYS this was the beginning of a challenging development.
The development of solar water heaters received further support at the newly established sanitary section of the Mechanical Training Centre in Balaju. This work, like that of BYS, was supported by Helvetas. (Both BYS and MTC were initiated by agreements between His Majesty's Government of Nepal and HELVETAS, Switzerland.)
In this manner, through improvements in design, manufacturing and installation and through a combination of the efforts of a private company and a technical school, the efficiency and performance of solar collectors and hot water storage tanks was much improved. Today, these installations are a common sight in Nepal and in neighbouring countries.
This second edition includes the latest developments made at MTC. The basics of "pumped circulation systems" have been added, and has with thanks much valuable information from "Solaranlagen" by Mr. H. R. Schmidli.
Much information on solar energy technology was generously made available by the late Rev. B. R. Saubolle, S. J. whose pioneering work in this field began as early as 1968. Thanks largly to his efforts, the utilization of solar energy has become a promising reality in Nepal, India and Africa.
We acknowledge with thanks the support given for the production of this book by Mr. Laxmi Bahadur Manandhar, Principal of MTC and Mr. Andres Wiederkehr at Helvetas in Zuerich. Thanks are also due to Mr. Ram Kumar Thapa, office assistant, Mr. Purna Man Shrestha, Head of Printing Section to Mr. Ram Prasad Shah, Draftsman and to Mr. Nick Gregory for checking the English language. We gratefully acknowledge the contribution of HELVETAS (Swiss Association for Development and Cooperation), whose support made this edition possible.
Ben Dolf/Programme Director
Helvetas Nepal
Patrick Leu /
Co-Principal
MTC,
Balaju
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