Bryan Miller, JIS Writer

Some of the 48 solar panels used to capture energy for conversion into electricity at Irwin High School in St James. - JIS Photo

Hot, sunny days may be a source of nuisance for many Jamaicans but, at Irwin High, it's welcome relief to cool high utility bills.

The St James institution will be etched in the history books of Jamaica as the first public school to harness and utilise energy from the sun to supplement its electricity supply.

The school's latest addition is a solar energy system, which is now used to power all the institution's security lights, the computer laboratory consisting of approximately 70 information processing systems, and part of its administrative block.

Teaching tool

Not only is the system cutting costs, it serves as a teaching tool for the more than 1,000 students. Now, they can learn more about renewable sources of energy.

With world oil prices reaching record levels over the last few months, and Jamaica's energy bill in 2007 estimated to be about US$2.2 billion, 'greener' sources of power are being championed because of their long-term sustainability.

There have been several pilot projects locally which involve the use of wind, water and other fossil fuels to provide energy. Studies are also being carried out at the University of the West Indies and at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education on the viability of hybrid systems. A hybrid system involves the use of a combination of solar, biogas and wind energy.

Irwin High took up the challenge, with an $8-million boost from the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica (EFJ). Project manager at the EFJ, Derrick Gayle, said his organisation did not hesitate to fund the project, as it recognised its positive spin-offs for the wider community.

How it works

For principal Aldin Bellinfantie, the system will be a large-scale showcase for western Jamaica.

"It is the school's intention not only to provide education for its own students, but for other persons who want to learn more about the benefits of solar energy," he said.

The fact is that thousands of students now have access to study the applicability of solar energy.

Company director with Ecological Technologies, the firm that designed and developed the solar energy system for Irwin High School, Miikal Oerbekke, explained how the system works.

"We have 48 panels of 110 watts on the roof, generating electricity. Out of those 48 panels, four panels are connected to actually produce 48 volts, so the system is fed with 48 volts just to make it more efficient," he said.

He explained further that the volts were fed into a DC panel breaker box, which fed into controllers, which regulated how much power got into the batteries used for electricity storage.

The power was then fed into two inverters with a capacity for 3,500 watts each, which allowed the system the capacity to feed the school with 7,000 watts continuously.

He pointed out that the current was fed through an AC breaker box, which allowed the system to regulate the flow of electricity.

"All of that is linked to an automatic transfer switch, and that switch actually takes care of solar energy. First to send it into the school, and have Jamaica Public Service as a second backup, and that is roughly how the system works," he said.

Sounds like a lot to process? Well, with all the technicalities taken into consideration, the bottom line is still the possibility of capturing solar energy and converting it for domestic and other purposes.

Bellinfantie said that even during the test-run period, the school was able to make tremendous savings on its energy bills. He said reductions to the school's energy bill could be anywhere from 20 to 25 per cent, the benefits of which would be pumped back into other programmes.

Promoting understanding

Minister of Education Andrew Holness, who was on hand to commission the Irwin High School system into service, was adamant that the cost of implementing the system should not be used as a hindrance for similar systems elsewhere, as it would pay for itself over time.

"We have to start the process of educating our students to the possibilities of solar technology, wind technology, geothermal technologies and of course the possibilities of ethanol and other biofuels," he emphasised.

This is a special Gleaner/Jamaica Information Service feature collaboration. Send feedback to editorial@gleanerjm.com.