ASCC Saves Energy with Solar Panels

ASCC Saves Energy with Solar Panels

By James Kneubuhl, ASCC Press Officer

Although passers-by may not have noticed, during the early part of this year the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) had a crew from Island Energy & Marine atop the roofs of its main “Quad” area, hard at work installing several grids of solar panels. ASCC Director of Physical Facilities Management Kenape Aumavae says the panels are now up and running, contributing 70 kilowatts of electricity to the College, which translate into a savings of up to $30,000.00 per year on electrical bills.

“The panels took about a month to install,” said Aumavae, “but the work going on atop the roof of the Quad did not cause any kind of disruption. We had some initial difficulty integrating the panels with our regular electricity mechanism, but once ASPA helped us resolve this issue energy from the panels kicked in and the interface is now working fine.” ASCC funded the installation of the panels through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. “We would like to install more panels in the future,” said Aumavae. “For the time being, we feel we can set a successful precedent for integrating solar energy into American Samoa’s energy consumption, and hopefully this will lead to funding additional funding opportunities for even more panels.”

With its classrooms in use from the early morning till early evening, employees and students busily working on hundreds of computers, and air conditioning to keep the classrooms and offices bearable during the heat of the day, the College’s energy costs have considerably risen in recent years. ASCC has responded to this rise in costs by adopting a “green” approach to energy saving. This takes a number of forms, from replacing the bulbs in the nightlights at the College’s main entrance with more efficient and long-lasting models, to instituting a “dark” every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, at which time all but essential ASCC personnel are instructed to turn off their computers, lights and air conditioning during lunch period. “With all of our energy saving efforts, we hope to find practices that work successfully not only for us, but for the whole of the public and private sectors,” said ASCC President Dr. Seth Galea’i.

In addition to the new solar panels, ongoing capital improvement projects at ASCC include the American Samoa Community Nutrition, Exercise, Health and Wellness Research Center now under construction at CNR/Land Grant, and the planned Multi-Purpose Building on the main campus which Aumavae says is “moving well” through the last stages of the pre-groundbreaking process. The Multi-Purpose Building, tentatively planned for the space beginning in front of the Cafeteria and extending to the site now occupied by the falesamoa, will include a new auditorium as well as areas for student activities and additional office space.

ENDS

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