The Class 4 -5 Hurricane Maria has apparently cut off all electronic communication with the outside world. There is only a single cell phone service and this is very fragile. The Governor has warned people not to expect restoration of the island’s electric grid possibly for several months. Puerto Rico’s electric grid is 44 years old and the only power company, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), has recently declared bankruptcy and for some time has prevented or limited the development of solar power in the island, even though Puerto Rico is a tropical island and has more than 10-fold the extent of sunlight as, e.g. Miami, ignoring cloud cover.
I have a suggestion that may speed up the restoration of power to the island and also at the same time act as a model system for the use of solar power in a new type of decentralized electric grid in general. I suggest that solar power should be installed on or adjacent to every house and business together with appropriate Tesla-like storage batteries. Of course, reconstruction of the structures is required before the solar panels can be situated. So, this is definitely a non-trivial exercise, but the reconstruction of houses and businesses (and the grid) must proceed in any case. Of course a grid expert must be involved in devising a novel type of “micro-grid” that would of allow total decentralization as well as installation of devices at each set of panels for easily removing the panels from the grid. The benefit of this proposal is that electric power will be restored much more rapidly than simply replicating the old electric grid system and relying on centralized fossil fuel generation of power. And the most important benefit is that this will be a test of the possibility of decentralization that could be used in other island disasters or even in mainland cities after extreme destruction, natural or man-made. One possible man-made disaster could be EMP pulses created by explosion of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere.
I just discovered that there is now a possible commercial solution (Novagen) to the problem of installation of solar power in sites as exist now in Puerto Rico.
I just discovered that there is now a possible commercial solution (Novagen) to the problem of installation of solar power in sites as exist now in Puerto Rico.
Rapid Roll "I" - Under Development (http://www.renovagen.com/prod
The integration of the Rapid Roll technology into a side-opening ISO shipping container, combined with inverters and a larger battery bank, creates an easily transportable self-sufficient solar power system capable of generating 10 times more power than competitive products. Deploying a huge solar array measuring 5 metres (20 ft ISO) or 10 metres (40 ft ISO) in width and up to 200 metres in length, this represents by far the largest containerized deployable solar array yet conceived. At this scale a multi-MW solar power plant could be deployed in a matter of hours – city-scale power sufficient for a large mining site or military main operating base.
Renovagen envisages that this technology could revolutionize the cost-effective and environmentally-friendly provision of large amounts of off-grid power in remote locations across many industries – including military, disaster relief, mining, oil & gas, construction, events and telecommunications. Indeed it has the potential to save lives by – for example, reducing or eliminating the need for military fuel convoys or by powering medical facilities in disaster zones.
An ISO container form factor utilizes existing transportation and container-handling infrastructure, but it may be sufficiently light-weight to be air-lifted by transport aircraft or heavy-lift helicopter. By integrating more efficient solar cells in the future, systems of up to 600kWp may become possible – for the first time mobilizing truly industrial scale solar power.
Rapid Roll "T"
The Rapid Roll “T” trailer/tactical version provides an extremely mobile solution
which can be airlifted by a wide range of medium and heavy-lift helicopters
(gross weight from 1,500 kg) but packs enough power for energy intensive
operations. Easily mounted on an on-road or off-road trailer or flat-bed truck,
the Rapid Roll “T” provides many options for deployment to practically any
global location imaginable. With simple deployment in just a few minutes
without needing solar engineers onsite, it provides a practical solution for
humanitarian and disaster relief, military, mining, events, film production and
other temporary power-hungry operations in remote places which require
equipment mobility. The size and weight of the Rapid Roll “T” when trailerised (2,000kg – 3,000kg total trailer weight) also makes it easy to tow with standard 4×4 vehicles and it fits on a number of commercial air freight pallets or 463L military pallet and also becomes extremely easy to transport internationally very quickly. Easy handling is facilitated with bi-directional forklift pockets and lifting rings.
