An isolated botanical garden and Hawaiian cultural complex east of Hana, Maui, will be powered by a state-of-the-art hydrogen fuel cell system for less than the cost of hooking up to commercial electricity.
The W. Alton Jones Foundation has put up $150,000 to install a self-contained system at Kahanu Garden. The system, to be in place by the end of the year, may be the first of its kind in the state.
The National Tropical Botanical Garden runs the Kahanu Garden, site of the ancient Pi‘ilanihale heiau and collections of plants from across the Pacific. The garden plans to put in a visitor center, but has been concerned about bringing in electricity.
Fuel cell systems are expensive but dropping in price. In certain situations, such as isolated locations, they can be competitive with bringing in commercial power, said Michael Veith, a former Kaua‘i County finance director who consults on hydrogen-based power through his firm, H2 Power Systems.
"The $150,000 price tag for the system is substantially cheaper than the estimated $200,000 to $400,000 it would cost to tap into Maui Electric Co.’s grid, and we’ll continue to save because we won’t have to pay any electric bills," Veith said.
Had the complex chosen to hook up to the utility, it would have had to bear the cost of running power lines.
Veith’s firm and the garden are calling for proposals for the construction of a turnkey program. While the specific components depend on the system proposed by the lead vendor, its basic outline is simple, Veith said.
There will be a 5-kilowatt bank of solar photovoltaic panels. While the sun is shining, the power from the panels will be used to extract hydrogen from water. Hydrogen later can be recombined with oxygen in a fuel cell to create electricity.
At Kahanu, the visitor center would use power directly from the solar array during the day, with excess power going into the production of hydrogen. At night, the hydrogen would be fed to the fuel cell to create electricity.
Garden director Chipper Wichman said the garden is committed to environmental protection and favors using a fuel cell system instead of batteries, since the fuel cell does not contain lead or other products that may be toxic to the environment. The fuel cell’s waste product is water, created when the hydrogen combines with oxygen.
"This allows us to not just talk the talk but walk the walk," he said.
State Rep. Mina Morita said a working fuel cell system at Kahanu Garden will be useful in building support for such projects. Morita, D-12th (E. Maui, N. Kaua‘i), represents Hana and is chairwoman of the House Committee on Energy and the Environmental Protection.
One of the problems with many renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, is that they are not always available, since the air is sometimes still and sunlight fades.
Fuel cells allow the storage of energy regardless if its source is available, she said.
