The island lifestyle requires one to pioneer in all sorts of ways. For the more than 50 people who live there all year round, Isle au Haut, an island located off on the shores of Maine Innovation can appear like making use of PVC pipe to create curtain rods because there are no curtain rods in the vicinity — or appear to be the future of our nation’s electrical grid.
The six-mile-long, 2-mile-wide (10-kilometer-long by 3 km wide) island is currently experiencing interruptions in its power supply. The islanders, as they do every day, became imaginative while at the same time incorporating technology that’s been around for decades and included new technologies to develop what could become an energy model that is renewable for the remainder of the U.S. and perhaps the world.
Half the Cost
Isle au Haut gets electricity via an underwater cable located on the mainland, about seven miles (11 kilometers) away. The line, meticulously placed across the bottom of the ocean by the Local lobsterman in 1983, has exceeded its expected lifespan by nearly twice and is likely to fail at any moment.
If the cable breaks, the island can operate its diesel generator backup; however, this could triple the price of electricity for residents, according to Jim Wilson, the Isle au Haut Electric Power Company president. “It would be an economic disaster,” Wilson says.
Additionally, using the diesel generator as the primary source of electricity for the island will also require more maintenance and is not climate-friendly.
Five years ago, when they realized people living on the islands were in a time of dwindling resources, The board of the electric company began looking into alternatives. The most prominent was creating an island-wide microgrid independent of the leading power utility company.
If they choose the microgrid option, they must produce power from the islands. In this regard, they thought of microturbines, which are refrigerator-sized units that burn fuel to produce electricity. They also considered wind turbines as well as solar. A solar microgrid is, says Wilson was penciled in at less than half the price of alternatives, which includes changing the power cable.
It was a solar system. With the help of islanders, the power provider is preparing to install the renewable microgrid system in the summer of this year, including a 300-kilowatt solar array of 900 panels.
Super Storage
Getting this project to its launch point has been “an adventure,” Wilson says. Once one tense situation was resolved, another came up.
The most difficult challenge they encountered was one that anyone interested in switching to renewable energy sources such as wind or solar must overcome: storing intermittently produced energy to be used later. The most popular storage options are lithium-ion batteries. However, they weren’t the best choice for the island’s plan for various reasons, including the cost and the expected life.
After looking at various storage options, The power company decided on supercapacitors made by the New York-based Kilowatt Labs, a power management firm. According to Kilowatt Labs’ chairperson, co-founder, and managing director Chip Seibert, These electrical devices can store energy and then release it rapidly without detcofounder as ordinary batteries do.
The microgrid’s solar-powered electrical power will comprise one-megawatt hour of storage housed in supercapacitors in two 20-foot (6-meter) containers that resemble trailers. Kilowatt Labs also provides the power management system in 10 feet (3-meter) container, which will channel the power into and out of the microgrid.
Reducing Waste
The storage issue was resolved, and the island’s electricity company had to deal with an enormous seasonal variation regarding the quantity of power needed. The island’s population grows from about 50 to 250-300 people during the summer. To supply the energy demand during summer, the island requires a more extensive energy systems larger energy system. In the winter months, the more comprehensive system generates more electricity than it uses.
As long as the cable is operating, the island’s electricity company can sell surplus electricity to the utility company located on the mainland. However, if the cable breaks and the electricity generated beyond the capacity of the capacitors will be used up.
The solution? Installing air-to-water heat pump heating systems in the municipal commercial and commercial properties on the island to convert the extra electric power into hot water that can be used later to heat buildings that are currently heated using various sources, ranging from oil to wood to kerosene.
According to Molly Siegel, an on-island member of the Island Institute, there is no guarantee that each property owner would switch the heating system to a heat pump/hot water tank system. This Maine-basnonprofitfit organization supports and collaborates with Maine’s islands and coastal communities. Siegel says systems are likely to cost approximately US$9,000 for installation, which is an expensive expense for islanders who live year-round. However, those who install them will likely save substantial money on heating expenses.
In assessing how big the structure is and the quality of its insulation, the heating system/hot water system can cut the heating expenses of a homeowner by a quarter, according to Wilson. This puts the payback period for the initial costs of the heating pump system between four to seven years.
The “Next, Next” Grid
How the microgrid’s control is done is the reason that is what makes the Isleau Haut system of energy its “next, next grid” using an algorithm-based computer program complemented by artificial intelligence and machine learning.
The software was developed by Portland, Maine-based Introspective Systems of Portland, Maine. The software is currently being evaluated to be used in Europe as well as Africa can calculate the price of electricity in real-time so that consumers can make better energy consumption.
“We’re doing optimal resource allocation,” explained Kay Aikin, Introspective Systems cofounder and cofounder of a live webinar on the island’s initiative that was which was last summer presented before The Smart Electric Power Alliance. This organization is a nononprofitased in Washington, D.C.
For instance, the program calculates the most cost-effective way to heat a building with the air-to-water heat pump/hot water tank system or to utilize an alternative heat source like a kerosene-powered monitor heater. Then, individual customers, using an interface resembling the tablet computer, can choose which option is most sensible for their needs. It is also possible to do this in the knowledge they are secured by the fact that the consumer’s energy management preferences aren’t shared with the power provider.
It’s an exciting time, Wilson says. “When this whole thing goes together, it’s going to be a very different system than we thought we would have when we started.”
Money Matters
The way to finance this new energy system and ensure it is affordable for the power company and the islanders has proved to be a problem to solve, according to Nicholas Filler, the power company’s vice president.
It is estimated that the $1.8 million project is funded through various sources, including private investments and donations of materials as well as grants and loans. However, islanders will be a bit bitten. Filler says the electricity usage rate will remain at 32 cents per kilowatt hour, but each property owner will need the option of paying an assessment that can be as high as $6,800 to pay for the construction cost. The property owners will be offered the option of paying for the evaluation all at once or through a 20-year installment plan.
Despite the added costs to their budgets for household expenses, Islanders supported this plan, Wilson says. They understand the necessity for a start. However, some things take the burden off the cost.
If property owners decide to switch to the air-to-water heat pump or hot water storage system, their savings on their heating bills will help offset the rising electrical bills. AdditionallyBy implementing heat pumps and solar panels in the long run, the island will significantly reduce its use of fossil fuels.
Catching Attention
The unique project has caught the notice of various organizations related to the industry, including Efficiency Maine, an independent administrator of energy efficiency programs. Ian Burnes, director of Strategic Initiatives for Efficiency Maine, says that the company has committed to providing over $65,000 in grants to fund the project, hoping that the data gathered on the islands will be used to inform the organization’s plans.
“We are cautiously optimistic about this,” says Ian Burnes, Efficiency Maine’s director of strategic initiatives. While he’s not convinced this type of program is appropriate for every community across the state, it can be essential to integrating renewable energy into the electricity system. “This has the potential of offering a lot of benefits.”
From Wilson’s viewpoint, the work they’re undertaking in the Isle au Haut Isle au Haut can make a significant impact on communities across the mainland of Maine and the entire country.
“The implication is much broader than just for Isle au Haut,” He declares. Although it’s not the perfect solution, he says it is “tremendous” applicability and “could be a significant economic factor” for any location that heavily depends on fossil fuels.
Chip Seibert of Kilowatt Labs agrees. According to him, The energy industry forecasts that solutions such as Isle au Haut’s can develop in the next few years, which leaves us still dependent on the power generated by fossil fuels.
“We have to have a plan that takes one baby step at time,” he explains. “When you look at what the Isle au Haut is doing, that’s a really interesting baby step that actually is a pretty big leap in the scheme of things.”