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!

North. Good.

3800 miles later (6000+ K) I am in Anchorage. Stunning drive, stunning views and stunningly long drive. Well worth it, but am cooked right now.

I stopped by the office to see what was happening. I am stoked - what a great group, and I will be busy busy, but am very much looking forward to the next 6 weeks here!

Welcome to Big Bear

School is done. The job search is awful. After a year of not working, my savings are hurting. Somehow getting more education has made me less employable. Lucky for me, my aunt Maryanne has volunteered to let me stay in her cabin in Big Bear, CA.

!!Maryanne Rules!!

Big Bear is not a bad place to be unemployed and looking for work. I have landed a short term gig with a group that works on the Yukon River. They employ renewable energy technicians, working to get communities away from using diesel generators to create all their electricity. I'll be training folks in remote communities and doing some installations with scheduled time in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Anaktuvuk Pass. I hit the road soon. I am very excited and I know this trip will be amazing. I'm also kinda fried from the endless dead ends in the job search. Hopefully the next step will present itself along the way...

These people hired me!! The Yukon River Inter Tribal Watershed Council

Which one's the greenie??

When you look at a huge batch of graduates, how can you tell which ones are in renewable energy?

Sooooo Done!

We have finished the last of the finals! I dropped off the A train, "earning" only a B in one of my classes. Who could believe it?!

Calhoun ran across a group of us drinking coffee and doing some last minute studying before the last final. Calhoun is one of the coolest people on the planet. He hangs for a moment, then rises at 10 minutes before the start of the test, and says "Well, after two years of classes here at San Juan, I am about to go track down a calculator to use in the final. I'll see you there."

After the last final we all got together for a beer. Maybe two. While enjoying cold beer in the high desert, Tevia and Brad decided to get up the next morning and drive for 13 hours to California to look for work. You can imagine correctly that 13 of driving in the desert the next morning after a couple of beers might be a little bright and a little hot and it was. We got to her sister's place in Palm Desert, barely above 100 at night, dropping down to mid-80's. Yesterday we went to the coast. The wild fires around Santa Barbara make it look like a volcano erupted in the hills behind the city. 

We knew the concept of just showing up would in some cases be ill received, and in other cases well received, and it would be a low rate of successful interactions. It's been good to hit the road, meet some folks that are in the local solar economy, and stir the pot a little. The electronic search has not been successful so here I am.