Greetings Fellow Solar Enthusiasts,

My name is Karlee Blank and I’m a student at Columbia University (CC ’12) studying Political Science and East Asian Languages and Cultures. I became interested in solar technology when I heard about the Joru Foundation’s Sengdruk Taktse school. Essentially, it is a school devoted to the education and care of nomadic orphans and under-privileged children. It is located in an ethnically Tibetan region of China’s Qinghai province, but geo-politically outside of Tibet proper.

While taking an introductory Tibetan Civilization course, my professor (Professor Gray Tuttle) extended to our class an opportunity to teach Tibetan students English in western China. The teaching placements were long-term positions (12 months+), but I was inspired to help, nonetheless, and asked my professor about other non profits/opportunities he knew of. He sent me a list of about 20 different organizations, and after contacting those who looked appealing and analyzing the opportunities at each, I settled on the Joru Foundation’s Sengdruk Taktse School.

Originally, I intended to just teach an English class at the school. However, upon further discussion with the school, I realized that I could have a more substantial overall impact on the school if I refocused my objectives to something sustainable, and lasting. Students can graduate and be impacted by different teachers, but technology that is worthwhile and reduces environmental impact can last decades, and provide a true benefit to all of the students at the school.

The only problem was funding. I, the quintessential poor college student, couldn’t on my own pay for the trip. Asking my parents for the funds was also out of the question: my Dad had been out of work for nearly ten months with cancer-related complications, and my mom, a nurse, wasn’t able to work during this time because he had a bone marrow transplant and needed a sterile environment with people who were healthy and weren’t bringing home the germs of a hospital.

After looking into funding opportunities, I applied for and received a Weatherhead East Asian Institute Undergraduate Training Grant to help fund my venture. At first, I intended to use the funds to build a green house. However, the school looked further into the venture and decided that trying to decrease their coal consumption (which they use for both heat and electricity generation) was a more pressing issue than increasing vegetable consumption for the students.

So, I turned my sights to solar technology. Being a humanities student who considers herself to be relatively illiterate in the domains of engineering and high technology, I underwent an extensive period of research. Every solution looked promising to me! PV panels, thermodynamic panels, solar water heaters, and more! Now that I knew a little about these very different technologies, I encountered my first barrier: what technology should I choose? Fortunately, I had a summer internship at Columbia’s Center for Technological Innovation and Community Engagement that partially focused on green development. With guidance, I realized that my original plan of thermodynamic solar panel installation, that connected into the central heating system at the school was far beyond my abilities (the installation, connection, etc.). I had to look into other technology.

From there, I turned to portable PV systems, that could be left out and connected to an electric space heater, like those that Vornado makes. However, upon realizing how inefficient these electric space heaters were, and finding out that I would need close to $10,000 worth of PV panels to work even just three of these units (10 TIMES my entire solar budget!), this plan also fell from favor. Another substantial limitation was Tibet’s harsh climate. Sure, it’s the “Rooftop of the World,” and has excellent solar access, but it also has a rainy season and is considered the “Land of the Snows!” Outdoor technology seemed like it degrade too quickly, and the solar panel manufacturers I spoke with said that their panels’ warranties were invalidated if I brought the technology out of the states. Out the window went that plan!

Feeling a little discouraged, I finally searched “Solar-Powered Space Heaters” and had a bit more luck. This technology was more affordable, and looked easier to install and maintain. I strongly considered a solar-powered space heater that connected to the outside of a building and provided heat using a fan that circulated the produced heat. However, I encountered yet another problem. I had never been to the school, and didn’t know if it was possible to drill the necessary holes into the walls of the school, or how school officials would feel about having large modules hanging off of their building (the school was built on sacred land and I didn’t want to disturb the image and serenity they created). From there, I looked into window units, specifically ones that could be hooked to the inside of windows and had a more-or-less one size fits all sort of design since I didn’t know the dimensions of south-facing windows, or their overall schematics.

I contacted and received responses from several companies who weren’t exactly inclined to help the humanitarian sector, admitting occasionally that they were profit-driven enterprises and could not be flexible at all in the cost of the systems. Perhaps the “best” (I say this with sarcasm) response I received was that a company who-shall-not-be-named didn’t believe in shipping overseas because it negated any benefit that the solar technology would have (I guess they didn’t think their technology would offset a great deal of carbon emissions), thought that my project should be more low-tech, and that I shouldn’t have received a grant to pursue the technology because the school should be able to do this for itself. However, the company did end the email with “Everything you do counts!” which I guess was a nice touch.

Needless to say, I was rather discouraged and began questioning my project… what if no company could 1) ship the materials abroad, 2) sell me the technology knowing it was going to China, or 3) simply did not want to help? This was my figurative point of no return. I had to buck up and pay for some of the technology out of pocket (which I had no problem with, because I truly wanted to help out), or refocus my project to something else, maybe back to my original plan of a green house. I looked into receiving a humanitarian airfare through Fly For Good to reduce my airfare, hoping put the funds I saved on airfare towards getting the technology. Unfortunately, this was a dead-end; there weren’t any available humanitarian fares to China. I was going to have to find a less expensive product.

From the get-go, I was very interested in solarairsystems.com’s Model 1536 heaters'. It looked simple to use, and was priced so that I could afford to purchase a few units. It was then that I (so thankfully!) received a very promising email from Solar Air Systems'sales department. The president of the company wanted to talk to ME, a customer who was bringing the technology overseas, had a relatively small-scale project, and even wrote that she was assisting a non profit, and that any and every discount would be appreciated? I knew that this company was a special one and the Mr. Doherty was sincerely dedicated to helping the students at Sengdruk Taktse, and reducing carbon emissions worldwide. His technology truly did create a “Greener Energy Solution for the World,” and I knew he was dedicated to that mission (many companies claimed to want to help the world, but didn’t want to work with foreign countries/beneficiaries). So, after speaking with him over the phone, I was certain that Solar Air Systems was the company that was right for my project.

For the time being, that’s about where I am at with this project. I am truly grateful to Mr. Doherty and all at Solar Air Systems for their assistance and kindness. I am getting very excited for the upcoming trip (I depart on August 1st from JFK, arrive in Beijing on August 2nd, fly to Xining on August 4th, and then travel about 12 hours by car to the school in the town of Darlag). I depart from Xining on August 18th, and am back in New York on August 20th. I am truly overjoyed at the technology the school will soon have. Seeing as though the school heats and generates electricity both with coal (they thousands of pounds of coal each day!), minimizing the amount of central heating they will have to output by supplementing it with solar heat. It is a very exciting time for the school, for me, and for all who I know.

I’ll write again soon!
Karlee Blank