Transcript “Napaimute Battery Bank Seeks Deposits of Wind & Solar Energy” An Alternative Energy Project sponsored by the ANTHC/EPA Community Environmental Demonstration Project Program.

“Napaimute
Battery Bank Seeks
Deposits of Wind &
Solar Energy”
An Alternative
Energy Project
sponsored by the
ANTHC/EPA
Community
Environmental
Demonstration
Project Program
Background:
In Formal Planning for Our Community, Napaimute’s Leadership recognized the
Importance of Incorporating …
…Alternative Energy into Our Growing Energy Needs!
The Napaimute Community Building
Conventional Fossil –Fuel Generated Power was Costing the Tribe $900 / Month for
16 hours /Day of Electricity to Provide Power to 4 Tribally-Owned Buildings
In 2009, The Native Village of Napaimute received an award under the Obama
Administration’s American Reinvestment & Recovery Act, Energy Efficiency Community Block
Grant to Tribes.
This funding enabled Napaimute’s Leadership to begin fulfilling their vision of incorporating
alternative energy into the initial development of permanent, reliable power for the
community.
Items purchased were:
•8 – high capacity 6V batteries
•1 – high quality inverter
•1- fuel efficient 9 KW diesel generator that automatically starts when the batteries get low
Ideal Kuskokwim River conditions allowed for the efficient, expedited transport of these
important investments to Napaimute by truck over the ice.
This even included
the safe transport of
45 gallons of battery
acid over 165 miles
of the frozen
Kuskokwim River!
Whoo would
help us?
With a solid foundation for an alternative energy system in place & operating , we
began searching for additional resources that would allow for the incorporation of
renewable energy sources…
That’s
Who!
…The Community Environmental Demonstration Project
Sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency & the Alaska Native Tribal
Health Consortium awarded October 1, 2010
Extensive research had already been done into what weasneeded for the addition of
wind and solar power to our alternative energy system so we hit the ground running
upon receiving notice of this valuable award . This was in order to get the supplies
purchased and transported to Napaimute before the ice starting running in the
Kuskokwim.
October 15th, 2010
the ice starts running
Easiest First:
The solar panels
are mounted on
the south wall of
the tribal office
“Plug & Play”
The solar panels immediately start edcontributing
power to our battery system. As much as 1KW
per day even on a mid –October day- Amazing!
Digging trenches for tower
anchors
Installing tower anchors
Constructing 60’ tower & rigging over
1,000’ of guide wires
Raising the tower by twilight’s last
gleaming
Unfortunately, the vendor
didn’t carry the turbine in
stock and had to order it
from the factory which
takes several weeks.
Freeze up couldn’t wait for
the turbine to arrive and air
freighting it to Napaimute
is cost prohibitive so…
…our wind turbine tower
served as a flag pole for the
winter.
Charge controller for solar
panels
May 2011:
Wind Turbine
Installed – System
Complete
Charge controller for wind
turbine
Working Wind
Turbine
Complete System
Lesson s Learned:
•Solar input ranges from 6KW/day on a good day in the spring &summer: March – Sept. In winter to just
enough solar input to keep the batteries up in the during the shortest, darkest days. On poor days in the
summer input decreases to about 2KW/ day. Summer average is 4KW /day.
•The wind averaged about 1KW a day for the first two months it was up. This provided good back up on
those cloudy days when solar input was reduced ( it’s windy on most cloudy days). Not always true, but a lot
of the time.
•Based on the old power use patterns, this has replaced at least 60% of the generator power previously
used. At current fuel prices of $6.50 / gallon, the Tribe is saving over $585 per month and this is for 24/7
power.
•We have become much more energy conservative under this system. We understand that the more
electrical power we conserve, the less the generator will turn on.
•Many of the alternative energy components advertised by Alaska vendors are not actually stocked by them.
Once purchased by the customer, they are ordered and shipped from out of state, causing many weeks of
significant delays.
•By doing all of the work ourselves and “scrounging” locally available materials to build the turbine tower,
we saved a lot of money which was invested in further improvements to our alternative energy system –
specifically a solar tracker.
•The solar numbers will improve by at least 20% with a tracker.
Thank you for the
support