Sunday, Jun 11, 2006
San Juan Island National Historical Park is harnessing the sun to pay a portion of its electricity and conserve natural resources in partnership with Orcas Power and Light Cooperative (OPALCO).
The park has co-located three linked 22-foot wide photovoltaic (PV) or solar electrical generation panels at OPALCO’s Friday Harbor office. Power generated by the system—in rain, sunshine or cloud—is fed back into the cooperative’s electrical distribution grid where it is metered and credited to the park’s monthly bill.
The grid, which went on line in 2005, cranks 7.5 kilowatts of energy that will combine with an additional 3.6 kilowatts generated by four other PV sites in San Juan County. This has made OPALCO, the first cooperative in Washington to offer Green Power to its members, the fifth highest participator in this program nationwide.
The OPALCO program complements the National Park Service’s Green Energy Parks Program (GEPP), which supports the operational needs and goals of parks while improving overall sustainability of the national park system. Among program goals are the promotion and use of efficient and renewable energy technologies such as photovoltaic systems and alternative fuel vehicles, as well as public programming that address things people can do at home to conserve energy.
“An important difference in this system is that there are no batteries, which allows the system to have a high efficiency, “ said Eric Youngren, owner of Rainshadow Solar, installers of the system. “You can actually use the system as a battery.” But the real beauty of the park’s PV system is that it is not located in the park, Youngren said. “It’s at OPALCO, so you’re receiving all the benefits but not disrupting the landscape.”
The park interprets and commemorates the historic events that occurred on San Juan Island from 1853 to 1874, culminating in the lasting peace between the United States, Canada and Great Britain. The park also protects significant natural resources that were important to the human history of the area and which today are prized for their exceptional recreational and scientific value.
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