Bringing my first solar PV project on-line for my grandfather
November 15, 2024
For decades, solar energy was discounted in Alaska. However, steep decline in solar photovoltaic prices and improved performance of batteries to store excess solar production has led to a mini-boom in recent solar PV deployments in Alaska. Ed Bifelt, founder of Alaska Native Renewable Industries, has been leading the charge for bringing the largest solar PV projects in the state to rural and remote microgrids. This is an excerpt from his chapter in the forthcoming University of Alaska Press book Alaska's Energy Innovators.
Bringing my first solar PV project on-line for my grandfather
November 15, 2024
For decades, solar energy was discounted in Alaska. However, steep decline in solar photovoltaic prices and improved performance of batteries to store excess solar production has led to a mini-boom in recent solar PV deployments in Alaska. Ed Bifelt, founder of Alaska Native Renewable Industries, has been leading the charge for bringing the largest solar PV projects in the state to rural and remote microgrids. This is an excerpt from his chapter in the forthcoming University of Alaska Press book Alaska's Energy Innovators.
To be the best utility: Reflections from former AVEC president and CEO, Meera Kohler
October 11, 2024
Providing reliable power service to rural Alaska faces many geographic and economic challenges unique to the far North, including: vulnerabilities to supply chain disruptions, the high cost of diesel fuel, and limited resources to name a few. AVEC, however, has been successful in addressing these challenges through innovative organizational solutions as well as the early adoption of new technologies. Many of these solutions were wrought by former AVEC president and CEO, Meera Kohler.
September 26, 2024
Over his 11 years at ACEP, Chris consistently promoted renewable energy initiatives, always finding the right tool -- whether that was a strategic partnership, an international collaboration or a set of pyranometer wires. His transition to a new role with Renewable IPP marks the end of an era at ACEP.
Powering up the nation's second largest island with 100% renewable energy
September 03, 2024
Kodiak Island is located 250 miles south of Anchorage and is the second-largest island in the United States. It is the first remote community in Alaska to be powered by almost 100% renewable energy year round. The utility manager - Darron Scott - tells the story of how this microgrid uses innovative storage strategies to balance hydro and wind resources on Alaska's largest remote microgrid. This is an excerpt from a forthcoming book entitled "Alaska's Energy Innovators" to be published by the University of Alaska Press.
ACEP publishes the 2024 Alaska Electricity Trends Report
August 30, 2024
Energy data in Alaska is fragmented. No one agency is in charge of maintaining records from all communities in the state. It is challenging for policy makers and researchers to view the entirety of Alaska's electric generation sector in one place. The process of seeking out individual data sources, requesting data, and correcting errors can lead to misrepresentations of the whole picture. Recently, society's increased dependence on data for forecasting and planning reveals the growing need for vetted and up-to-date statistics on the state's energy trends.
Kotzebue's legacy as a wind energy pioneer
July 12, 2024
The remarkable story of the Kotzebue energy system began with the vision of one man, Brad Reeve, the former manager of Kotzebue Electric Association (KEA). This was back in the early 1990s, and the utility scale wind market was just really beginning to get a foothold in the power generation industry. There was a healthy degree of skepticism about what role wind energy could play in commercial wind generation anywhere, let alone in an isolated community above the Arctic Circle. But Brad believed it could be done, and he set out to prove it.
To tilt or not to tilt: Comparing residential solar designs in Fairbanks
July 07, 2024
Solar arrays with tilted panels usually have a higher upfront cost to install than flush-mounted panels, but there are no analyses about the real-world effect of tilt angle on energy production. This case study compares the monthly and seasonal energy production of flush-mounted and tilted solar panels in Fairbanks to determine if mounting angle makes a significant impact on solar energy production.
A back-of-the-envelope look at how PCE and renewables interact in rural Alaska
June 28, 2024
Across the circumpolar North, interest in the creation of independent power producers (IPPs) to own and operate renewable power systems is growing. This new IPP ownership model and the integration of renewables more broadly, raise some interesting questions for Alaska's Power Cost Equalization program.
Bringing billing innovations to Alaska's most remote communities
June 03, 2024
One of the critical challenges in serving remote communities around the world with vital electricity and other infrastructure services is how to pay for such services. The following are selected excerpts from UA Press' forthcoming book Alaska's Energy Innovators that follow the story of two women who were pivotal in creating electric utilities in Alaska's smallest and most remote villages and provided the tools - through prepay metering technology - to enable these micro-utilities to become sustainable enterprises.
April 16, 2024
In mid-February, the frozen Yukon river appeared still and foreboding - large chunks of jumble ice jutting out from its surface. But underneath the ice, the water flowed. Stephanie Fisher and Leo Azizi from the Alaska Center for Energy and Power were there to measure the under-ice flow rate, the first step in determining whether locals could use this seemingly frozen river to generate electricity.