February 01, 2012 – The hundreds of public transportation users in Kathmandu area will now have an earlier wait at the newly launched solar bus stands. Hon. Gagan Thapa and DIG Ganesh Raj Rai inaugurated the first solar bus stand outside NTB, towards Bhadrakali. This bus stand will provide safe shelter for all travelers at all times of the day. The entire bus stand has been powered by solar from Gham Power, ensuring lights for evening travelers.
 Hon. Gagan Thapa and DIG Ganesh Raj Rai inaugurating solar bus stand The project was initiated by Sunshine Exhibits, who has brought an international standard one-of-a-kind bus stand to Kathmandu. The bus stand has advertisement in bright background and is lit from the backside. Harish Agrawal from Sunshine Exhibits approached Gham Power for the technical expertise on how to light up the special lights for the advertisements. These back-lit advertisements will add an advantage in the evenings. The lights from the background will serve as safety lights for the people waiting for their bus to come. Best of all, the lights will be on regardless of electricity supply from the NEA grid line since it is solar powered.
 Hon. Gagan Thapa talking talking to media after inauguration  Engineering mind behind the solar powered bus stand - Avishek Malla These solar bus stands will undoubtedly brighten up the city while creating a safe waiting spot for travelers. This is just the first of many more similar solar bus stands to come in the near future. The news was covered in several media including this photo piece by Republica, English Daily Newspaper:
 photo coverage in Republica
Mandala Children Home (MCH), a home for orphans has found an angel in a German student who just sponsored a solar PV installation at the orphanage via Gham Power. MCH, located at Budhanilkantha in Kathmandu, shelters homeless children and helps provide them education, medical attention and other basic necessities. With the installation of solar PV from Gham Power, the children now have access to proper lighting for their studies, daily chores, and their communication is also better.
“The Gham Power system has been working well and we are happy that our children don’t have to live in darkness anymore,” says Mim Lal Shrestha the caretaker at Manadala Children’s Home.
Gham Power installed a 740-watt system that produces 2.2 units of electricity per day on average. This provides backup power to the lights for the rooms and also for other appliances like tv, fridge, computer, water pump and communication devices. The installation started on December 7, 2011 and was completed in 3 days.
The German student, who has chosen to stay anonymous, first heard about MCH from Nepal Kinderhilfe e.V., an organization in Germany that works to help the orphanage. She then collected funds from various people, some who she knew personally and some completely benevolent strangers. When she had gathered enough money, she came to Gham Power to select the best option for a solar PV system and ensured that the installation was complete before she left for her home country.
Mandala Children Home was founded three years ago, when their founders were faced with a situation in which a brother and sister suddenly became orphans, and there was no one to take care of these kids. So the founders agreed to invite these children to live with them, and a small home for orphans was launched. Today, they serve 20 children where Mim and Gita Lal Shrestha play sacrificing parents’ role and the children feel like having sisters.
While the orphanage gives their best in providing most of the basic facilities, they could not provide light to the students preparing for SLC, due to the loadshedding problem that has plagued our country. Gham Power is happy to have brought light into the lives of the children living in the orphanage, and equally honored and grateful to the amazing German student who made all this happen.
News about a film by GIZ-CIM, depicting the installation of solar PV at Bayalpata Hospital by our Engineering Manager Avishek Malla, an Australia returnee, covered in National Engligh daily Republica.
26 January 2012, Kathmandu – The women and Children at the rehabilitation center of Maiti Nepal, an organization helping rescue women and children from trafficking, are one step closer to living in light even during load shedding hours. Gham Power has already finished installing the panels, the combiner box and completed the inverter box arrangement at Maiti Nepal.
 The 45-panels of 185 watts each from Gham Power installed at Maiti Nepal Maiti Nepal had reached out to Gham Power for solar electricity to power up lights in every room for their dormitory as well as for the activity areas, outdoors and in the office. The solar electricity will also be used to power up the office equipment during load shedding hours. The installation started in December 2011 and is expected to complete in January 2012.
 Gham Power's 8.33 KW PV system atop Maiti Nepal Office  Technicians setting up the frame for the panels  Arranging the wires from the panel to the battery station  The wire channel  setting up the charge controller-inverter hub  filling acid into the battery array We had earlier posted the news of Gham Power being tapped for solar electricity by Maiti Nepal. http://ghampower.com/2012/gham-power-ready-to-bring-light-to-maiti-nepal/
Nepal’s national daily newspaper Nagarik’s coverage of Gham Power’s 3-kilowatt PV system installation at Raniban Retreat hotel/resort in Pokhara (in Nepali, sorry English readers).
The picture in the inset shows the 16 panels installed at a shed specially built for the purpose. The shed houses the battery system on one side and the other side serves as a staff quarter.
As Gham Power continues to grow fast, so does our need for top-notch leaders to join our team to accelerate the pace of solar PV adoption in Nepal. One immediate area of help needed is to have a Director of Sales join our senior management team and lead our sales department to create and deliver a highly effective sales strategy.
Responsibilities include:
- Developing strategy, tactics, sales plans and profit targets
- Acting as an ambassador and role model for your business
- Setting and achieving targets for individual reps and the whole team for revenue, profitability and sales growth
- Monitoring your team’s performance and motivating them to reach targets
- Compiling and analyzing sales figures
- Recruiting and training sales staff
- Taking responsibility for profit and loss
- Dealing with some major customer accounts yourself
- Interacting with international clients in US, Italy, and Australia
- Collecting customer feedback and market research
- Keeping up to date with products and competitors
Hours, Environment, and Compensation:
Normal work hours are 10am to 6pm, Sunday to Friday. However, your duties are likely to involve a lot of out of hours activity.
You’ll be office-based, but also spend much of your time visiting clients, partners, and your sales team in the field. You may also need to attend conferences, trade fairs and exhibitions. Your job may involve travel in various places in the country.
You will also enjoy one of the highest compensation packages in the company that includes a mix of market-competitive salary, rewarding commission structure, and an option to own equity in the company.
Skills and Qualifications We are Looking For:
- MBA or equivalent degree from a reputed institution
- Minimum of 7 years experience in sales, including leadership positions
- Excellent sales and negotiation skills
- Good business sense
- The ability to inspire, motivate and lead a team
- Initiative, drive and enthusiasm
- Excellent communication and ‘people skills’
- Good planning and organizational skills
- The ability to work calmly under pressure
- Good IT, budget and report writing skills
- Hands-on knowledge of CRM tools highly preferred
Interested candidates please send resume to jobs@ghampower.com
About Gham Power:
Gham Power is the fastest growing solar PV company in Nepal, providing solar power backup systems especially designed for urban households and businesses. Since 2010, we have installed over 100 kw of solar, customers including US Embassy (23-kw), EVK2 Research Lab @ Mt Everest (10-kw), Maiti Nepal Shelter for Trafficked Girls and Women (8-kw), Druk Amitabha Mountain Monastery (5-kw), Nyaya Health Bayalpata Hospital (3-kw), Raniban Retreat in Pokhara (3-kw), and hundreds of residential homes.
Gham Power is an exclusive partner of US-based Solar Power Inc (now LDK Solar, world’s second largest solar PV manufacturer), which enables us to bring world’s #1-ranked solar technology from US to Nepal.
Come join our exciting team and be a part of a work culture that is crazy and fun, yet responsible, where all of us strive to provide an environment-friendly answer to Nepal’s load-shedding woes, one solar panel at a time.
Pokhara, 8 January, 2012. Businesses in Pokhara now have an economic and environment friendly option to deal with load shedding problem thanks to Gham Power. In a one-of-a-kind workshop titled “Get Cost-effective Backup Electricity from Solar PV During Load-shedding” at Raniban Retreat, Pokhara, Gham Power educated hoteliers and other business owners in the area to manage backup electricity in a cost-effective way.
The workshop had 38 attendees from hotels, housing, children’s home and other business -entities. The event started with a tour of the solar PV system installed at Raniban Retreat. The lights in each of the rooms, restaurant and passageway are being lit with the solar electricity. In addition, the fridge and freezer is also being powered by solar. In average, the 3 kilowatt solar PV system produces 19 KWH (units) energy per day.
 3-kw solar PV system at Raniban Retreat, Pokhara, provides 19 kwh of electricity per day Gham Power is the fastest growing solar company in Nepal, with over 100-kilowatt of installations, including the US Embassy (23 KW- Kathmandu), EVK2- CnR (10 KW- Everest base camp), Maiti Nepal (8 KW-Kathmandu), Bayalpata Hospital (3 KW – Accham) and Raniban retreat (3 KW-Pokhara). The workshop shared these experiences to show how solar PV can be used in commercial scenarios to provide power backup at costs lower than pure diesel generator backup.
 Moon Pradhan, sales/marketing director of Gham Power, explains commercial PV systems Here’s how Avishek Malla, Gham Power’s Engineering Manager, compared solar to diesel generator (DG):
| Diesel Generator |
Solar Hybrid System |
| Low Initial Cost |
High initial cost (not any more with bank financing) |
| Operational and Maintenance cost high |
Operational cost low |
| Fuel price high fluctuation |
Price of electricity constant |
|
Payback ~4.5 years |
 Avishek Malla, Gham Power's Engineering Manager, Describing How Solar Costs Less than Diesel in Long Run Mr. Malla then described how to integrate solar PV with the NEA line and the existing diesel generator to optimize overall power costs. In such integration, the main priority is given to the utility line from NEA, but when there is no NEA electricity, then the solar electricity is used for powering the load. The existing diesel generator is only used when there is extra load more than the solar PV output.
 Integrating solar PV with NEA power and DG electricity to optimize costs Mr. Malla then introduced the topic of “captive power plant” for businesses with following characteristics:
- For facilities with load greater than 30kVA
- High energy demand during the day
- No initial capital cost, or maintenance and operation costs – businesses only pay for the backup power used from the captive power plant
The workshop participants were interested in learning more about optimization of their existing DG-NEA system. Some participants were also keen to gain more information about the captive power plants for their businesses.
 Workshop Attendees Engaged in 1-on-1 Sessions with Gham Power Staff Stay tuned as we will be doing more of these workshops over time. If you are a business interested in finding out more how you can integrate our commercial solar PV systems with your existing DG, please contact us at contact@ghampower.com, and we will send our engineers for a free energy audit to identify your energy demand, and ways we can optimize your existing power back up system. We will need the following from you to make our audit more accurate and effective:
- Energy bills for last 12 months
- For your Diesel generator:
- Meter reading corresponding to fuel input
- Maintenance cost
Also, let us know if you are interested in hosting a workshop like this in your city. We can definitely use your help in getting interested people together so we can all engage in a discussion on how to bring power backup costs down by integrating solar
Nepal’s #1 daily national newspaper Kantipur’s coverage of Gham Power’s 3-kilowatt PV system installation at Raniban Retreat hotel/resort in Pokhara (in Nepali, sorry English readers, we will have our installation report in English posted soon)
Maiti Nepal, an organization helping rescue women and children from trafficking, has tapped Gham Power to install a 8.3-kilowatt solar PV system at their rehabilitation center in Gaushala, Kathmandu. The installation started in December 2011 and is expected to complete in January 2012.
Led by Ms. Anuradha Koirala, winner of CNN Hero of the Year 2010 award, the Maiti Nepal center in Kathmandu houses rehabilitation center for the women and girls — whether married or not — who are exploited, their rights grossly violated and neglected by family and society likewise. The Kathmandu center also has a home for children who are affected and a school for these children. The solar PV system from Gham Power will be used to provide power for each rooms in the women and children’s homes. This will also power up the clinic, offices and study centers at Maiti Nepal.
The 8.3 KW system at Maiti Nepal comprises of 45 panels of 185 watts. Maiti Nepal made the decision to go for solar energy as their means of back up solution in addition to their backup of diesel generator. Friends of Maiti Nepal, a non-profit organization based in the US, raised funds from well-wishers to provide this solar PV system for Maiti Nepal.
Maiti Nepal was born out of a crusade to protect Nepali girls and women from crimes like domestic violence, trafficking for flesh trade, child prostitution, child labor and various forms of exploitation and torture. A group of socially committed professionals like teachers, journalists and social workers together formed Maiti Nepal in 1993 to fight against all the social evils inflicted upon our female populace. Most of all, its special focus has always been on preventing trafficking for forced prostitution, rescuing flesh trade victims and rehabilitating them. This social organisation also actively works to find justice for the victimized lot of girls and women by engaging in criminal investigation and waging legal battles against the criminals. It has highlighted the trafficking issue with its strong advocacy from the local to national and international levels.
Gham power has already installed a 3-panel (0.55 w) solar PV system at Maiti Nepal’s Hospice at Sattighatta, Jhapa. This system is being used to power the lights, fridge, computer and TV. The fridge is primarily being used to store medications for the residents.
In April 1999 Maiti Nepal established a hospice on 8.15 acres of land in Sattighatta, Jyamirgadi VDC, Jhapa District, five Kilometres south of Kakarvitta to shelter survivors of trafficking who suffer from various illnesses, including hepatitis, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. Its residents were moved to Gokarna, kathmandu district when Maiti Nepal’s Sonja Kill Memorial Hospice was opened in January 2006 and the sattighatta residents now houses survivors of gender violence suffering from psychiatric disorders.
The hospice provides the residents with their basic needs including shelter, food, and medical care and provides companionship and affection. To promote long term healing residents are encouraged to participate in vegetable farming, fish breeding and animal husbandry. Gham Power is happy to be assistance in this cause.
We are looking to fill-in a full-time Civil Engineer position. If you are interested, or know of someone, please contact us at jobs@ghampower.com
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor degree in Engineering
- Minimum one year experience in related field
- Knowledge of Steel Structure highly preferred
- Required computer skills: AutoCAD 2D/3D or Google Sketch Up, MS Project, MS Excel
- Optional but preferred computer skills: AutoCAD Structural Detailing, SAP2000/STAADPro
- Energetic, self motivated, great communication and coordinating skills
- Market driven and ready to serve in any parts of Nepal when required
Job Description:
- Design and lead implementation of framing structures for mid to large scale solar PV installations
- Design/lead implementation for truss structures, battery and component housing
- Design/lead implementation for solar street light physical structures
- Research and development of innovative techniques for solar PV installations
Deadline to apply for above job position is December 31, 2011.
Please send us the application letter with a copy of your CV to jobs@ghampower.com, or you can drop by our office in Panipokhari, Lazimpat, or call 4438950
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Answer to Load-Shedding: Solar! "Gham Power installed a solar system to bring more consistent electricity to Bayalpata Hospital. The result has been impressive; even through two periods of complete grid black-out (one in July for seven days and one in August for nine days), the hospital electricity has not had a single significant stoppage in five months, powering all of our clinical and administrative facilities. "
- Duncan Maru, MD/PhD, Nyaya Health Co-Founder
Contact us today at 4438937 or 4438950 or email us to get started today!
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