Handy women producing solar water heating systems

During our work with Central Asian countries, we have been a part of a project that focuses on finding sustainable energy solutions that are rooted in affordable, locally available technologies and resources. As part of our South-South cooperation efforts, we help take simple clean energy technologies that are already in use in Croatia and test to see whether they can also be used in Central Asian countries.

We have been searching for ways to introduce energy efficient technologies that can ensure a green development pathway for local communities. Today in Tajikistan, water is heated with firewood, which both takes time and contributes to the deforestation that is wreaking havoc on the country (some areas already have lost 70 percent of their forests in last 20 years!).

The systems they were taught to use are simple: they are passive solar water heating systems that work solely on the principles of thermodynamics. They don’t require pumps or outside sources of energy, just the sun. This technology is ideal for wide dissemination, since it requires no special knowledge or tools.

The projects go on and communities in the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Tajikistan held more similar workshops producing different types of solar thermal systems.