Going Solar in Kingston, Jamaica—a Hemispheric First

The pride of AISK: a grid-tied photovoltaic system, ready to go (photo: AISK).

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An earlier version of this article was published in The Jamaica Observer.

Boasting 400 250-watt solar panels, covering 7,000 square feet, in addition to five Schneider-Electric 20-kilowatt grid-tied inverters, the American International School of Kingston (AISK) has become the first school in Jamaica with a system of this size. Project Manager Paul Stockhausen says it will greatly reduce the school’s carbon footprint, and save it approximately 48 percent of current electricity requirements.

Incidentally, with the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) recently implementing a net billing service, the AISK installation could not have come at a better time. Net billing allows customers who own renewable energy generators to save on cost, in addition to “selling” excess energy to the light and power company at prices set by the Office of Utilities Regulation.

For AISK, the savings alone will translate to about US$60,000 per annum. In addition to its cost-cutting feature, the project serves as a further extension of AISK’s modern approach to education, which facilitates global classrooms, enhances life-long learning and the use of technologies and multimedia, and creates a sustainable, “green” environment.

Having already started campaigns related to recycling, re-using water, and creating a paperless network, the latest initiative serves as an advancement of AISK’s “go green” philosophy. The project was the brainchild of the AISK board, headed by Chairman Peter Melhado with consultation from Mr. Stockhausen, an engineer with decades of experience. The group was forced to re-evaluate the school’s energy profile, given high electricity consumption stemming from the use of projectors and air-conditioning units in every classroom.

The concept has been in the pipeline for some time, Mr. Melhado said, but it was catapulted into reality with a loan from the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), which finances large, strategic development projects in a number of sectors including (luckily, for AISK) energy/alternative energy solutions. Mr. Melhado told The Jamaica Observer that the project is a great long-term investment, which was albeit quite costly in its initial stages. The DBJ loan compensated for approximately 70 percent of the capital needed to get the project off the ground, a contribution he counts as invaluable.

Another invaluable contribution will be the impact of the school’s most important asset—its students. Even before the final touches were made, students from Grades 2 to 11 got a demonstration of how the PV system works; it will stand as a practical example for years to come. “This provides the opportunity for them to have a practical representation of alternative power in use,” said Sylvia Browne, curriculum coordinator.

According to Byron Ward, business manager of Alternative Power Sources Ltd., AISK is the recipient of the very first installation of the Schneider-Electric Conext TL-20000, three-phase 415V grid-tied inverter in our hemisphere, which includes the Caribbean and Latin America! A remote monitoring system has now also been installed, which will allow persons to see real-time numbers regarding the energy-saving initiative.

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