Two off-island companies are touting energy saving technologies their companies are bringing to American Samoa. SolarWorld Solar Panels and Greenearth Energy’s wholly owned subsidiary Pacific Heat and Power Pty Ltd  are supplying the hardware for projects contracted by the American Samoa Government.

SOLAR PANELS

 Island Energy and Marine of Pago Pago,has installed a 680-kilowatt installation using SolarWorld panels on 24 buildings in American Samoa.

Funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, the buildings included 10 commercial, 12 government and two non-profit buildings.

American Samoa is not the only U.S. territory for which SolarWorld is supplying panels.

In the U.S. Virgin Islands a 1,600-foot-long array of ground-mounted SolarWorld solar panels was installed recently paralleling a runway at Cyril E. King Airport. The 450-kilowatt system which is scheduled to be unveiled today (Sept. 14, 2011), is prominent among a recent series of high-performance SolarWorld solar panel installations, which includes Guam.

Pacific Solar and Photovoltaic completed a 24.84-kilowatt installation of Solar World panels on a library at Guam Community College late last year, then commissioned a 29.4-kilowatt system on a college health education building in May.

SolarWorld, the largest U.S. solar panel producer for more than 35 years, began supplying U.S.-centric islands around 1980.

ORGANIC RANKINE CYCLE TURBINES

Greenearth Energy’s Pacific Heat and Power is supplying two PureCycle® Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) Turbines to New Zealand based partner Service Engineers Limited, to capture waste heat from diesel engines that are owned by the American Samoa Power Authority.

Service Engineers, which recently won the Turnkey contract, says the technology will be commissioned in the first half of 2012. Mark Miller, managing director of Greenearth Energy, said "as the first diesel waste heat-to-energy project using ORC technology in the Pacific Islands we believe this will drive awareness and ultimately sales of this savvy technology."

According to company information, the PureCycle power system, developed by Pratt & Whitney Power Systems, is a pre-engineered system that harnesses waste heat to generate electricity. This results in a 280 kW on-site power generation system that requires no fuel input except heat in the form of hot water, low pressure steam, or thermal oil.

Based on a thermodynamic cycle known as the ORC, the PureCycle power system converts low to moderate temperature resource fluids like water into electricity through vaporizing and expanding a working fluid in a closed system.  The company says their ORC Turbine application will result in an additional 300kWe net, baseload, zero emissions power for American Samoa.

According to its website, Service Engineers LTD has over 30 years engineering experience, based on Auckland’s North Shore, and offers its clients cost effective engineering solutions.

OTHER ENERGY SAVING MEASURES

Yesterday, the Department of Interior Office of Insular Affairs awarded $600,000 to American Samoa for energy efficiency initiatives. 

Funding will assist American Samoa Power Authority’s efforts to install energy saver compact fluorescent bulbs that save consumers money on their utility bills while protecting the environment and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Resources will also initiate a recycling rebate program and allow for the installation of prepaid electricity meters for homes in Tutuila and the remote islands. The prepaid program permits consumers to buy certain units of power by making an advance payment.

This is part of a total $2 million energy efficiency award for American Samoa, CNMI and Guam.