Starter Kit. Idea 419 of 500. Cluster 21
Battery-storage services for the guesthouses
The mechanism, from the book
The sun shines on every roof and the island imports its fuel.
The first step
Find the guesthouse owners on one stretch of coast or hill road and ask how many hours they lose power each week, what a blackout costs them in refunds or generator fuel, and whether guests have complained. Offer to install a battery for a monthly service fee, with the first month free if it fails to cover an outage. The proof is a signed service agreement from the owner who complains most.
- Who pays first
- A guesthouse owner who pays for generator fuel and loses bookings to bad reviews after blackouts, and would rather pay a fixed monthly fee.
- What leaves today
- Generators burn imported fuel and outages cost bookings; stored power, charged from the sun, keeps both the fuel money and the guest's goodwill on the island.
Ask first
- Sustainable Energy Authority. Ask what safety standards batteries in guesthouses should meet.
- Ceylon Electricity Board. Ask how a battery may connect alongside the guesthouse's grid supply.
Check before you spend
That the battery is installed safely by a qualified electrician, insurance against fire, and a clear service agreement on what you will repair.
Find out these three numbers
- How many hours a week do guesthouses lose power?
- What does a blackout cost them in refunds or fuel?
- What monthly fee will an owner sign for?
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.