Yanuca Island (near the larger Beqa Island) has a primary school where 5 teachers hold classes for 55 students ranging from kindergarten to year 8. The school had a small two panel solar system, servicing the office only - it functioned well on sunny days and lasts a short period in the evenings (as the batteries are coming to end of life). This is supplemented by a small portable generator. Wiring was non-existent in most areas of the school and in others was old and unsafe - so all buildings were rewired for the new solar. The small solar system is redeployed to the village hall.A donor also supplied a new LED data projector and 20 kgs of library books focused on sustainability.
Donor - Anonymous
Our projects
Yanuca Island School
Annual school fuel saving (litres) (1)
Annual fuel saving 5 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.
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
The classrooms, office and library areas have been rewired. The homes do have small two panel systems that are reasonably functional for charging and lights and supplemented by kerosene lanterns. Considering the short expected battery life of those systems, a 250m new circuit now connects the school solar system to 5 teachers’ homes that have all received new LED lighting and power sockets.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