{"id":55813,"date":"2021-08-31T06:43:52","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T10:43:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carilec.org\/?p=55813"},"modified":"2021-08-31T06:43:52","modified_gmt":"2021-08-31T10:43:52","slug":"keeping-the-lights-on-during-hurricanes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carilec.org\/keeping-the-lights-on-during-hurricanes\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping the Lights on during Hurricanes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-55815 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.carilec.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Capture-RMI-9999.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1840\" height=\"476\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carilec.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Capture-RMI-9999.png 1840w, https:\/\/carilec.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Capture-RMI-9999-300x78.png 300w, https:\/\/carilec.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Capture-RMI-9999-1024x265.png 1024w, https:\/\/carilec.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Capture-RMI-9999-768x199.png 768w, https:\/\/carilec.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Capture-RMI-9999-1536x397.png 1536w, https:\/\/carilec.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Capture-RMI-9999-600x155.png 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1840px) 100vw, 1840px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>How RMI\u2019s Best Practices Are Creating Hurricane-Resilient PV Systems<\/h3>\n<div class=\"single_news_content_meta\"><time class=\"post_date\">August 25, 2021<\/time> \u00a0|\u00a0 By <a href=\"https:\/\/rmi.org\/people\/laurie-stone\/\">Laurie Stone<\/a><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"text-align: justify;\">As Hurricane Grace and Tropical Storm Henri cause destruction up and down the Atlantic, people living on islands and coastal territories must prepare for an above average hurricane season. In fact, <\/span><a style=\"text-align: justify;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.noaa.gov\/news-release\/atlantic-hurricane-season-shows-no-signs-of-slowing\">the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted<\/a><span style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0that we could see up to ten hurricanes in the Atlantic in 2021, three to five of which could have winds of 111 miles per hour or greater. These hurricanes wreak havoc on people\u2019s lives, both emotionally and physically. They destroy critical infrastructure, leaving many people without basic services such as electricity and water for prolonged periods of time.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Fortunately, many islands are installing solar photovoltaic (PV) systems\u2014often including batteries\u2014to decrease dependence on volatile fuel imports and provide more reliable power to their residents. However, even PV systems aren\u2019t invulnerable to hurricanes. Over the years, we have found that some PV systems suffer major damage during hurricanes, while others survive and continue producing power. We set out to find out why.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In 2018, we analyzed solar PV systems in the Caribbean after Hurricanes Irma and Maria. We then wrote a report, titled\u00a0<em>Solar Under Storm<\/em>, detailing how to build hurricane-resistant\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/rmi.org\/solar-under-storm-designing-hurricane-resilient-pv-systems\/\">ground-mounted PV systems<\/a>. We followed that with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/rmi.org\/insight\/solar-under-storm\/\">two reports<\/a>\u00a0in 2020: a similar report geared toward roof-mounted PV systems and one detailing\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/rmi.org\/solar-under-storm-for-policymakers\/\">best practices for policymakers<\/a>. These reports describe how to build resilient PV systems are making a huge difference in keeping the lights on for people on islands around the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><strong>Resilience in The Bahamas<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Hurricane Dorian devastated The Bahamas in 2019. Since then, the government and utilities have been working hard to deploy reliable and resilient power. And that includes employing the best practices learned from our\u00a0<em>Solar Under Storm<\/em>\u00a0analysis. RMI worked with Bahamas Power and Light to design, develop, and install a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/microgridknowledge.com\/60-minutes-microgrid-movement\/\">solar microgrid on Ragged Island<\/a>. The 390 kilowatt (kW) microgrid is built to withstand a Category 5 hurricane (with winds of 180 mph) and provides 93 percent of the island\u2019s energy needs. The project was highlighted on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/bahamas-hurricanes-power-grid-solar-60-minutes-2020-03-01\/\">CBS\u2019 60 Minutes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Another system in The Bahamas built using recommendations from the reports is the 1.1 megawatt (MW) solar-plus-battery\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/solarbuildermag.com\/news\/solar-project-in-bahamas-engineered-to-withstand-180-mph-hurricane-winds\/\">microgrid on Highbourne Cay<\/a>. The microgrid, also built to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, will provide power to up to 100 residents and guests at the island\u2019s resort. It will also save more than 1,650 tons of CO<sub>2<\/sub>\u00a0emissions annually and pay for itself through diesel savings in just five to six years.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The recommendations are even being used in the largest solar project in The Bahamas to date. The 4 MW solar-plus-battery\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/microgridknowledge.com\/microgrid-bahamas-caribbean\/\">microgrid on Chub Cay<\/a>\u00a0is expected to be complete by mid-September. Chub Cay is a privately owned island that had been powered with diesel generators. However, the Texan owner of the island, who ironically made his money from oil and gas, realized it made financial sense to switch to solar energy to supply 90 percent of the island\u2019s energy. Applying resilience best practices from the reports only increased costs by 5 to 7 percent. This was also a cost-effective investment to ensure that the system survives hurricane-force winds.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cFortunately, most of these systems have not had to endure a category 5 hurricane after installation. We wouldn\u2019t wish that on anyone,\u201d says Chris Burgess, project director for RMI\u2019s Global South Program. \u201cBut we have a lot of data from the surviving systems of Irma and Maria that have already allowed us to conclude that these best practices do work and that these new resilient PV systems will survive severe storms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Beyond The Bahamas<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Other islands across the Caribbean are also using the best practices described in the reports. For example, Montserrat recently completed a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/discovermni.com\/2021\/01\/26\/750kw-solar-power-grid-to-provide-backup-for-critical-facilities-in-northern-montserrat\/\">750 kW microgrid<\/a>. In the event that the grid goes down, the microgrid will help provide power to a hospital, airport, assisted living apartment complex, and a number of homes in the area.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A 100 kW solar microgrid on the Grenadine island of Mayreau, deployed in 2019 by St. Vincent Electricity Services Limited with help from RMI, serves 28 percent of the island\u2019s electricity demand. It is greatly reducing the island\u2019s energy costs and will ensure electricity is available to critical facilities during storms.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThe Mayreau project was initially specified to withstand Category 4 winds,\u201d says Fidel Neverson, senior project manager for RMI\u2019s Global South Program. \u201cThat was before we saw the utter destruction caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria to ground-mount solar arrays that were built to Category 4 specifications.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Using best practices from the first\u00a0<em>Solar Under Storm<\/em>\u00a0publication, RMI and the project team completely reengineered the Mayreau solar array to a Category 5 design. \u201cWe want to give the Mayreau microgrid the best possible chance of surviving the types of devastating hurricanes that have impacted the region recently so that the island\u2019s residents can enjoy its benefits for years to come,\u201d Neverson adds.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">And in Puerto Rico, after Hurricanes Maria and Irma caused the largest blackout in US history, RMI helped the island install solar and battery microgrids on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/rmi.org\/press-release\/10-puerto-rican-schools-receive-resilient-microgrids\/\">10 public schools<\/a>. \u201cAll of our procurements require installers to adhere to\u00a0<em>Solar Under Storm<\/em>\u00a0principles,\u201d says Roy Torbert, a principal with RMI\u2019s Global South Program. \u201cThe systems on these schools were built to withstand Category 5 hurricane winds. But we\u2019ve also seen many of them continue to provide power after the grid went down due to the earthquakes that ravaged the island in early 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Helping Develop New Policies and Codes<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The third report that RMI produced,\u00a0<em>Solar Under Storm for Policymakers<\/em>, emphasized that it is not only installers that have to act on the recommendations. There are many things that governments, regulators, and developers can do to improve the survivability of solar PV systems in the face of severe storms. And many policymakers throughout the Caribbean are taking that to heart. The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States adopted the best practices from the\u00a0<em>Solar Under Storm<\/em>\u00a0reports into its building code. And the Caribbean Development Bank uses the recommendations as part of its underwriting process for the financing of solar projects.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Three years after we published our first\u00a0<em>Solar Under Storm<\/em>\u00a0report, we are happy to see all of the solar projects that have employed our recommendations. \u201cWe discovered that design, workmanship, quality materials, and quality checks were the difference between survival and failure,\u201d said Burgess. \u201cWe realized we didn\u2019t need a technical or manufacturing revolution, we just needed to have an eye for detail.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Fortunately, islands throughout the Caribbean are using those details to prepare their solar systems for the ever-increasing hurricanes. In this way, we can ensure reliable, life-saving power for those who need it most.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended_reading-title\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>SOURCE:\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-55816\" src=\"https:\/\/www.carilec.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Capture-RRRRMMMIII-300x101.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"100\" height=\"34\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carilec.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Capture-RRRRMMMIII-300x101.png 300w, https:\/\/carilec.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Capture-RRRRMMMIII.png 444w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How RMI\u2019s Best Practices Are Creating Hurricane-Resilient PV Systems August 25, 2021 \u00a0|\u00a0 By Laurie Stone As Hurricane Grace and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image":"https:\/\/carilec.org\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","month_date":"Aug","day_date":"31","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carilec.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carilec.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carilec.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carilec.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carilec.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/carilec.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55813\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carilec.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carilec.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carilec.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}