The V.I. Environmental Resource Station is a pacesetter when it comes to solar energy, V.I. Energy Office officials said Friday as they toured the facility.
“VIERS is a good steward of the environment,” Joseph Daniel, the Energy Office’s energy operations coordinator, said.
While VIERS had a 1.8 kilowatt system installed about eight years ago thanks to the Energy Office’s rebate program and help from the Rotary Club of St. John, it recently completed work on a 9.41 kilowatt system using a $50,000 Energy Office Stimulus Fund grant.
“It’s over 40 percent of our total usage,” VIERS Manager Jamie Irving said.
The older system has 14 panels. A total of 24 of the new panels sit on the roofs of two of the cabins. An additional 20-plus panels provide power for the VIERS lab located about a 10-minute walk from the main facility.
The older system stores its energy in 40 batteries but the new system is tied to the V.I. Water and Power Authority through a process called net metering.
Batteries are expensive, and Irving said that eliminating the batteries from the new system also makes it more environmentally friendly.
“We’re looking to do away with the batteries and do net metering,” Irving said, referring to the older system.
Irving said the facility, located at St. John’s far distant south side, has generators to use when the power goes out so the batteries aren’t essential.
VIERS also has solar hot water systems to provide hot showers.
Key to the project is VIERS’ ability to monitor usage using computers. This has enabled staff to demonstrate how effective the system is, Irving said.
The older system is expected to pay for itself through reduced energy costs in about 10 years. Irving estimated the new system will pay for itself in five to seven years because equipment costs have come down. Fuel costs have also risen.
VIERS, whose usual guests are school groups and scientists, is open for visits by the public, Irving said.
“The educational component is a major success,” Irving said.
The Energy Office’s efforts at VIERS are part of the government’s overall plan to reduce the territory’s fossil fuel consumption by 60 percent by the year 2025.
Energy Office Director Karl Knight said that government department heads received information about conservation in an effort to save energy. Additionally 11 public schools have been retrofitted to help conserve energy.
“We hope to extend it to all schools and government facilities,” Knight said.