__________
29 Dec 08
UNCONTROLLABLE VARIABLES: Over the past few months there have been a few things that slowed down businesses development, particularly for those whom shipping is an integral part of their business. Skyrocketing fuel: At the end of last summer, most shipping companies added fuel surcharges to the already high prices. That hit our customers like a double-edged sword. Most manufacturers had to raise their prices due to the extra cost incurred from shipping in and out the needed components and finished products respectively. Then airlines had to get their share of fuel surcharge as well. All that affected us, but probably has had double effects on our customers in
Patrick
________
24 Dec 08
It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Looks like Suntech has developed enough reputation for quality that there are several manufacturers trying to counterfeit their modules. Check our spec sheets page for guidance on how to identify the real thing.
Lincoln
________
23 Dec 08
End of year rush is upon us - all of those projects that were not done in 51 weeks of the year are now supposed to be finished in the last week of the year. We do our best, but is probably the worst possible week to get anything done in the US. Christmas, New Years and Hannukah holidays plus the beginning of serious winter weather and the end of year accounting and shipping issues means it is a crazy time. At least we are seeing a strong finish to a strong year at 60% above last year's volume. When oil dropped, so did the number of inquiries we saw in the 4th quarter, but I am predicting a strong recovery for oil prices by mid-year 2009 and so we are getting ready for that rush too!
Lincoln
________
3 Dec 08
This is from the Currency Risk Management Division of African Energy :-).
As you are aware, we have entered a somewhat turbulent international financial environment, characterized by exchange rate volatility generally resulting in a weakening of many African currencies against the US dollar. We know that this causes difficulties for our customers, such as effectively increasing the prices of our products, as well as foreign exchange (US dollar) shortages at many of your banks. African Energy has as its business focus the wholesale distribution of renewable energy products, and we do not undertake to actively manage foreign currency risk. Given the number of currencies and countries in which we operate, this would be such an enormous task, that it could potentially divert our limited resources away from the main objective of our company, which is to provide a reliable and efficient supply chain, and to offer quality products at competitive prices throughout Africa. Therefore, our policy will remain one of pricing of all goods in US dollars, and we request that you continue to make payments to our bank in the form of US dollar-denominated wire transfers. Thank you for the opportunity of serving your needs, as we concentrate and focus on being Africa's premier source for renewable energy.
Don
_________
20 Nov 08
Interesting question yesterday about why a certain APC UPS would not work with a DR inverter/charger. That UPS model did not recognize the modified sine wave of the DR inverter - similar to the erroneous voltage reading you will receive from a DR with a non-true RMS multimeter. The installer wanted to put in a pure sine inverter, but the real question was why use a UPS at all? The load was servers and PCs, so the transfer time of the DR was not an issue. I think the only other reason to use a UPS would be for the "power chute" feature which shuts down the computer operating system on a low battery signal and saves data before cutting power to the computer. But in this case, the customer loved his UPS and so the installer quoted him a sine wave inverter as a replacement to his DR at three times the cost.
_________
11 Nov 08
Sundanzer founder and owner David Bergeron stopped by the house for dinner last night. A really great person and always educational to talk with him. Talked about the new assembly site in El Paso where the Sundanzer refrigerators are now assembled and quality tested - this has brought a lot better control of shipping and lower prices. Their new 50 litre unit is cute (we have one at the office) but the price and power requirements are not proportional to its size. The latest product is an upright "cabinet" type refrigerator and freezer. Lots of excitement about that, as the cabinet type is preferred for most domestic applications. Less efficient than a chest type, but you can see what's in there! Sundanzer is making all the right moves - I see our volumes increasing a lot in the coming year....
Lincoln
________
7 Nov 08
TIP of the DAY: The Importance of Proforma/Sales Order Numbers
To receive efficient and accurate responses to email and telephone inquiries, remember to include your Proforma/Sales Order number. In this way, African Energy staff can target and respond directly to your inquiries.
Without the Proforma/Sales Order number, time that should be spent in assisting you is lost in identifying the Proforma/Sales Order in question.
Camy Marvel & Andrea Riker
________
6 Nov 08
The Magnum 4024E and Magnum 1012E inverters have been very popular. We are gathering a lot of experience in the field now. Occasionally the MERC-50 control units will show "internal bridge error" and the inverter will shut down. Disconnecting and reconnecting the positive battery lead will clear the error and the unit starts working again normally. We have had about four cases of this and the factory is trying to find the issue. Today we had a case where the red LED on the case illuminates and the MERC says "high AC voltage" but the inverter continues to work normally. This was on a standalone system with no AC input, so it is still a mystery. To date, we have only had one case where any Magnum inverter actually failed and did not work - burned boards which were replaced under warranty.
_________
4 Nov 08
Today is election day in the USA and thanks to all of you for your calls and mails - messages were running 100% in favor of Obama. I think Africans are very proud of him. Our office was split about evenly. I am concerned about his faith in government solutions and his socialist tendencies - that is exactly the opposite of what we need now in the US, where we should be cutting government. Hard to see how that approach will encourage investment and free enterprise. But at the same time we are African at heart and the world would certainly look differently at us if Obama was president. A new broom sweeps clean. If he does get elected, his problem will be the same as most of us have in the solar business - managing realistic expectations!
3 Nov 08
This is our first attempt at a blog - we think that enough of you now have reliable access to the web that it might be useful. Let us know if that is the case. We find enough interesting things every day to add here. Like the other day when an installer was using the Morningstar SI-300 inverters to power backup systems for traffic lights. Used a Samlex charger as a permanent charger on the other side of the battery. One of the lights in the traffic light shorted and caused an overcurrent in the inverter. The inverter went dead. The good news: the Morningstar inverter has some blade-type automotive fuses under the front cover - four in parallel. So you pull the cover, quickly replace the fuses and it is back in operation. Good to know....
Lincoln