ASPA and SPA enter into solar energy data sharing agreement
A data-sharing agreement between the American Samoa Power Authority (ASPA) and South Pacific Academy (SPA) was recently finalized, laying the groundwork for a ten-year solar energy project between the two entities.
As part of their solar energy project, SPA students will provide data received through photovoltaic solar panels that the school plans to install and have operating in January 2009. In exchange for the data, ASPA has agreed to provide partial funding for the project.
The SPA Solar Energy Project will involve the installation 12 solar photovoltaic panels and a data acquisition system to monitor the performance of the solar panels. The data will be stored on a web site and the contractor for the project, Shively Island Energy & Marine, will train teachers and students on how to analyze the data and produce monthly performance reports.
Currently, there is no data on how well photovoltaic panels perform in American Samoa. ASPA is currently researching renewable energy systems to determine which systems are best suited for meeting American Samoa’s energy needs. The SPA solar energy project will provide ASPA with valuable base-line data on solar panel performance at a fraction of the cost of installing their own system.
The SPA Solar Energy Project is a $25,000 project that is also funded by grants from the Bank of Hawaii ($5,000) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture ($13,500). These grants fall short of funding the entire project and the ASPA funding of $5,000 will help to ensure that the project comes to fruition. SPA will pay the remaining $1,500.
SPA will be the first school in the territory to install a photovoltaic power system. It will save the school money on its power bill reducing it by approximately $1,200 a year and it will also reduce the schools carbon footprint and help in the fight against global warning and climate change.
“SPA is grateful to the Bank of Hawaii and the USDA for their tremendous support of this project and to ASPA for providing the final funding to make the project a reality,” said SPA Principal Evelyn Lili’o. “The project will demonstrate SPA's commitment to ensuring our students are given the opportunity to contribute their time and energy to improving the quality of our environment. In addition, the solar project will provide an opportunity for students to fully manage a project through the collection, analysis and interpretation of ʽreal' data.”
Kathleen Kolhoff, chairperson of the SPA Board of Directors added, “It is a true partnership and this will provide SPA students with valuable scientific experience using state of the art technology. This project also shows our students that SPA is concerned about pollution from fossil fuel based energy production and is willing to find ways to reduce the amount of pollution the school is responsible for through the use of clean energy technology.”
In addition, the school will be the first ASPA customer to take advantage of ASPA’s new “net metering” policy, where SPA will be credited by ASPA for the power the solar panels produce but SPA does not use.
ASPA CEO Mike Keyser said, “I’m not sure which is more exciting, that we’re partnering on a clean renewable energy project which will produce great data or that we finally have our first net-metering customer. Both are great first steps for ASPA. Really, this is just the tip of the iceberg for us. I firmly believe that we’re going to see some great strides forward this year as our efforts start to pay off.”
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