Ratu Lalabalavu Secondary (2581 Nadroga-Navosa)
Specifications
Works & Maintenance
CO2 & $s
Contacts
Charge data
Term Reports
Procedures
On Malolo Island in the north west of Fiji, 10 teachers provide classes for 60 students in years 9, 10, 11 and 12.To build a relationship with the village a resort developer installed a solar system at the school in 2020. The panel structure was good quality and with plenty of generation power, but unfortunately the inverter/battery system was incorrect and the batteries failed within a year causing a safety incident. The inverter also failed. We are using the existing panels and installed a new inverter/battery configuration. FTR the resort was not built, and the developers left the country after being exposed for illegal dredging the nearby coral reef to create better access to the proposed resort. A donor also supplied a new LED data projector and 20 kgs of library books focused on sustainability.
Donor anonymous.
For sustainability
Our projects
Ratu Lalabalavu Secondary
Annual school fuel saving (litres) (1)
Annual fuel saving 7 teachers' homes getting solar (litres) (2)
Annual cartage saving (litres) (3)
Total annual fuel saving (litres) (4)
Fuel saving over 30 years (kgs)
Annual CO2 saving (kgs)
CO2 saving over 30 years (kgs)
Annual AUD saving (8)
Annual USD saving
Annual FJD saving
30 yrs AUD saving
30 yrs USD saving
30 yrs FJD saving
Total of All It's Time Solar Schools
Total annual school fuel saving (litres)
Total annual fuel saving 91 teachers' homes getting solar (litres)
Total annual cartage saving (litres)
Total annual fuel saving (litres) (4)
Total fuel saving over 30 years (litres)
Total annual CO2 saving (kgs)
Total CO2 saving over 30 years (kgs)
Total annual AUD saving (8)
Total annual USD saving
Total annual FJD saving
Total 30 yrs AUD saving
Total 30 yrs USD saving
Total 30 yrs FJD saving
Assumptions
Fuel cost in the islands in AUD/litre (5)
Fuel cartage consideration % (3)
Annual fuel consumption per teacher's home wired (litres) (2)
Annual generator maintenance consideration AUD (6)
CO2 produced per litre of fuel burned (kgs) (7)
AUD to USD conversion rate used
AUD to FJD conversion rate used
Notes
(1) This is the annual fuel consumption based on reporting from the school at the time of school survey and affirmed at the time of installation. It refers to direct fuel use by the school, not including teachers' homes.
(2) The fuel consumption of teachers' homes varies considerable between homes and over time. Their sources of energy varies from their own small generators to shared generators, still some use kerosene for lighting and some small solar (often failing) for lights and charging. Recently on Beqa Island two of the 7 households at one school were each using 10 litres of fuel per week and some were using very little. So, we have chosen the conservative underestimate of each household saving of 2 litres per week (approx. 5 kgs of CO2).
(3) Most schools have a cost to get fuel to the school - usually small boats and car/truck on the mainland. The costs vary from small amounts to some schools where the cartage cost is almost the same as the cost of the fuel itself. The cartage consideration (dollar and carbon cost) is a percentage of the total fuel consumption, because it varies widely from school to school we have chosen quite a conservative estimate.
(4) Includes cartage and teachers' home consumption estimate that therefore contribute to the total CO2 saving. But we do not include the teachers home in the financial saving - rather we just refer to the savings from the school generator.
(5) This is the current published diesel price in Fiji presented in AUD. Often the islands pay a higher price, but that is not factored in, so generally the price will be a small under estimation.
(6) Generators often require repairs and eventually replacement. That cost varies significantly from school to school, so a conservative value is applied to represent this component of cost/saving for all schools. It is not possible to calculate that accurately for every school, hence the estimate across all.
(7) Burning diesel produces CO2 at a rate of 2.68 kgs/litre, whereas petrol produces it at a rate of 2.31 kgs/litre. We have chosen 2.55 as the approximate for our calculations because there is more diesel used than petrol in the school generators.
(8) The fuel savings in the teachers' homes are not included in the calculation of financial savings for the school. Although teachers are asked to make a small contribution each term (FJD70) for their now 24-hour power and this goes to the school to buy more education resources.
To build a relationship with the village a resort developer installed a solar system at the school in 2020. The panel structure was good quality and well enough power for the school. Unfortunately the inverter/battery system was incorrect and the batteries were damaged within a year and inverter failed. So, we are used the existing good quality panels and installing a new inverter/battery configuration.
Inverters
Inverter type
Charge controller
Panels
Panel type
Number of panels
Array (watts)
Mountings
Mountings
Brand
Batteries
Battery type
Number of batteries
Kilowatt hours
Batteries mounted
General electrical works
Most of the school has quality electrical wiring and only a few general repairs were needed. But four teachers quarters needed new wiring as the exiting was not to standard. Also, a new circuit was be laid to the school generator for back up. 4 amp breakers are installed into the teachers' homes - this limits appliances to a maximum 960 watts and capacity to use modest sized electrical appliances, but not electric cook tops etc. That power limiting strategy means effective use of a reasonably sized school solar system and all in the school community are very happy to have this balanced level of 24-hour power supply.
Partners
Solar contractor
General electric works constractor
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