Remember
UTECH (University of Technology) 100KW Solar Power Facility that was slated to
be built in six (6) months by JPS Co (Jamaica Power Service Company) back in
October 2012 as I’d reported in my blog article entitled
“JPS
Co to build 100 KW Solar Plant at UTECH - Marubeni of Japan and EWP (East West
Power) Benevolence as LNG Project now Taken 2 the next Level for 2015AD”?
A
discovery I made after scouring my RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and emails
in Mozilla Thunderbird, my offline access to Gmail Email. But more interesting
is the fact that the 100KW Solar Power installation involved input from thirty
(30) UTECH Engineering Students as noted in the article “UTech
solar system doubles as teaching aid”, published Wednesday, September 10,
2014 BY VERNON DAVIDSON
Executive editor -- publications, The
Jamaica Observer.
According
to his interview with The Jamaica
Observer, he took on the thirty (30) UTECH Engineering Students in rotating
shifts during the construction phase of the 100KW Solar Power installation Project.
Thus a Project that would normally take four (4) weeks took eight (8) weeks, as
care was taken to show the UTECH Engineering Students the rudimentary basics of
a proper Solar Installation of his magnitude from start to finish.
More
interestingly too, the 100KW Solar Power installation Project wasn't actually
built by JPS Co but was contracted out to 11 year veteran in Solar
Installations, Alternative Power Sources
(APS). So what are the specs of this mammoth 100KW Solar Power
installation Project? Is it one of a kind and are there more in the offing? And
what about training? Does APS do training and certification in installing Solar
Panels?
APS Built 100KW Solar
Power installation Project - UTECH not one of a kind but one of many
The
UTECH 100KW Solar Power installation was built in three phases:
1. 22
panels providing 5KW installed on the Front Lawn of UTECH
2. 160
250W panels providing 40KW installed on the Engineering building
3. 220
250W panels providing 55KW installed on the Education and Liberal Studies
building
The
100KW Solar Power installation cranks out some 450 KWh of power on a daily
basis, which works out to be 162MWh of power annually. That allows UTECH to
realize savings of JA$550,000 per month or approximately JA$6.6 million per
annum, assuming even sunlight during the entire year, to quote APS Manager
Damian Lyn: “That amounts to approximately between $500,000 and $550,000 a
month in energy cost savings. So it's a very good investment for the campus”.
First
off the bat, this Project isn't unique to APS, according to APS Manager Damian
Lyn. They built a similar installation 100KW Solar Power installation for AISK
(American International School of Kingston) as stated in the article “American
International School Of Kingston Goes Solar”, Published Tuesday October 15,
2013, The Jamaica Gleaner and “AISK
saves big with solar”, published Wednesday, October 23, 2013 by Devaro
Bolton, The Jamaica Observer.
APS
has also done installation at the following Schools:
1. Jones
Town High School
2. Maldon
High School
3. Chatsworth
Primary School
He
also has another 100KW Solar Power installation at a villa in Discovery Bay and
has plans for installation of a similar system at St Andrew High for Girls. APS
is also currently working on a smaller but still impressive 72KW Solar Power
installation at Old Fort Village residential complex in St Ann. On that Project
APS Manager Damian Lyn commented, saying quote: “That is major in the sense
that it is the first time in Jamaica that we are going to have a townhouse
complex that is totally off JPS”.
As
for formal training, aside from the UTECH Engineering Students, APS has
partnered with UTECH and UWI to provide Technical Certification in the
installation of Solar Systems, to quote APS Manager Damian Lyn: “It's a course
certified by the Electronics Technicians Association in the US. It is certified
to the point where you can take the US exams, qualify and use that to get a job
in the US should you migrate. That programme started three years ago and we
have worked closely with UTech and UWI (University of the West Indies) in
different programmes that involve renewable energy and [in] assisting and
guiding the students”.
So
with that much experience in the Installation of Solar Power installation in
Jamaica at High Schools and now a Residential Complex, will his company APS be
involved in the JA$62 million dollars worth of Solar Panels at the 15 Schools
and the 3 GOJ (Government of Jamaica) Institutions funded by the PCJ (Petroleum
Corporation of Jamaica) as reported in my blog article
entitled “PCJ
to install JA$62 million Solar Panels Systems - 15 Schools and 3 GOJ
Institution”?
Stay
tuned as a good source of mine indicates that they're in line to get that
particular contract from the PCJ!
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