Ruby Project TV coverage...

Pretty good local tv coverage and an article about the Ruby water turbine project and remote Alaskan communities' energy issues.

Hydrokinetic Turbine in Ruby AK

(The news broadcast is on the right hand side of the page.)

Near Valdez

I could stay here a long time before the scenery got old.

5kW Hydrokinetic Turbine Online!!

Right on - the 5kW hydrokinetic turbine in Ruby, AK is now online and cranking out watts. It was a lot of work to get it in the strongest part of the current, anchor it from being washed away by the current, create a non-intrusive deflection device to prevent a tree or log from knocking it out, and create a way to do all this on a large scale next year for bigger turbines.

Why hydrokinetic? The hydrokinetic device works with the current in a stream or river. You don't hurt fish. You don't need a dam to run it. The downside is that is exposed to debris floating downstream so you have to protect it. The bigger the turbine, the harder it is to put it in fast current. However with some determination, planning, sweat and perhaps occasional harsh language, it'll go!

It is cranking at a steady 1000 watts and the river is at its lowest right now. It will crank a lot of power before ice comes in and requires removal for the winter.

Photo above: The first run of transmission cable came up a bit short, I jumped in to land it with just 3 feet or so left at the bitter end, and we still had about 70' to get to the junction box. The current tried to take it away and we had a belly instead of a straight run. Not what you want, but the third time it went in, we figured out the technique, using bags of rocks, a 5 gallon bucket as a fair lead / bollard, lot's of bags of sand, reliable and trusty aluminum work boat, and some good teamwork to get it done and not lose anyone overboard in the process.

Ruby Ruby

Next stop Ruby, AK. The renewable energy express train is in full swing. Ruby is due west of Fairbanks and is part of the interior's climate. Very cold temps in winter, and fairly hot sunny summers. 90F and higher this week (33C) and the sun just doesn't quit. It drops into dusk but still never darkness.

This 5kW hydrokinetic turbine installation has been a challenge. Heavy equipment, river barges, fork lifts, 1000 lb spools of electric transmission line, and the Yukon River current ready to sweep everything away. Our transmission cable spool was supposedly 900' long. We anchored it where we have the turbine anchor, and got to shore with 4 feet remaining... not what you want to see when the electric box is still 60 feet away! (Insert Bob Eucher voice - "Just a bit short of the plate.")

The turbine lives on an aluminum pontoon. We built an A-Frame bumper out of timbers to divert floating trees, logs, bodies, etc from going into the turbine blades and injuring it or knocking it offline. Yes the timber A-Frame bumper was kinda heavy to drag into the current. We got a barge to drop the anchors overboard in line in a strong current. At 4000 lbs apiece, even the reliable utility skiff was overmatched. It did handle the 1000 lb spool of electric cable just fine and sat nicely in its "site-engineered cradle", a.k.a. "let's see what we can find around to use to build something that can support 1000 lbs. and fits into this nook of the boat".

The people who live here are really interested in the turbine project and stop by to se if they can lend a hand all the time (in between fishing trips). The local tribal council sounds very forward thinking and has the community's attention as to why this is important. Good stuff from where I see it.

AKP

A few pics of Anaktuvuk Pass. Student group from Ilisagvik College with instructors in front of the new solar array. The students spent the month working on all the different parts of the house. They were very cool, suffering in the blistering 75F heat (23C) and waiting anxiously for winter and fall hunting season to begin.

Solar in the Arctic!

My first solar install in the Arctic is a smashing success. We spent 3 days designing on the fly, building and installing a rack system that tilts for the extreme angles of the sun up north. I recommend you pay the premium and buy a pre-made rack system unless you live north of the Arctic Circle, or just like to re-invent the wheel.

Is solar in the Arctic a good idea? It has to be a supplemental system, because of the lack of winter sun. However, early spring does very well here because though the sun is out for few hours, it is cold which makes PV even better (kinda like me) and the snow reflects a lot of sunlight, enhancing its PV impact. If you track it and/or change tilt angles, you really gain alot.

And yes Anaktuvuk Pass was amazing. A place where the Inupiak Eskimo have hunted forever. It's now a village, a flat glacial moraine cut into sharp peaked mountains. Gorgeous views and 24 hours sun. The people I got to meet and work with were amazing.

This project was owned by the Tagiugmiullu Nunamiullu Housing Authority (TNHA for those of you who don't speak Inupiak), and was designed by the Cold Climate Housing Research Center. It is a prototype house for Arctic communities that is much better in many ways than the housing options for the north in the past. It is super insulated, they put a sod roof on top for extra thermal mass. There are few cars here, 4 wheelers and snow machines and some dog sleds mostly, so they have a drive through garage sized for snow mobiles, a meat locker for hunters to put game, 3 small bedrooms, and this one is built with solar pv and we'll put in wind power next month. The cost of the solar and wind power is wrapped into the original costs and the local folks can't wait to see how it does. They would love to someday fire the electric company!

My connection is too slow and intermittent for photos right now - next time!