OUR ENVIRONMENT
Resorts turn to alternative energy
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Columnist
Big hotels are taking the alternative-energy and energy-efficiency lead in a number of areas in Hawai'i.
On the Big Island, the Mauna Lani Resort recently dedicated its fourth solar photovoltaic system. The latest and largest is a 250-kilowatt array that tracks the sun as it crosses the sky to get the best performance out of the power cells.
The new system, a PowerTracker, comes from the California firm PowerLight Corp., the same firm that manufactured the first three systems.
Mauna Lani put up its first array, an 80-kilowatt system, on the hotel roof in 1998, then a 110-kilowatt array on its golf building. More recently, it launched a fleet of golf carts, called SunCaddies, with solar panels on the roofs. The resort figures all its golf carts will be converted to solar by the end of next year.
In all, the resort has half a megawatt of generating capacity.
While solar photovoltaics remain an expensive source of power to install, dropping prices are increasingly convincing businesses and homeowners that there are situations in which such plants make economic sense. In some cases, tax credits and net metering can make them the best power alternative.
Over on Maui, the Grand Wailea Resort & Spa has teamed up with Maui Electric Co., a Hawaiian Electric subsidiary.
They are developing a system that produces power and captures the waste heat, which is then used for other purposes at the resort — removing the need to use fuel or electricity to make the heat.
The demonstration project is called a combined heat and power, or CHP, system.
It involves the resort having its own power generation plant. The cooling water, which absorbs the heat, could be used to warm swimming pools or laundry water.
Grand Wailea General Manager Johnny So said the resort earlier teamed up with the utility in installing energy-efficient electrical lighting and appliances.
"That resulted in real savings for us," So said.
A California company, Onsite Energy Corp., will help evaluate the CHP project.
Both the solar plant at Mauna Lani and the proposed CHP plant at Wailea are what the industry calls distributed-generation projects, an increasingly popular setup in which small power generation facilities are established near the power demand.
The benefits of this arrangement are described at the Web site distributed-generation .com: "For some customers (distributed generation) can lower costs, improve reliability, reduce emissions, or expand their energy options. (Distributed generation) may add redundancy that increases grid security even while powering emergency lighting or other critical systems."
Jan TenBruggencate is The Advertiser's Kaua'i bureau chief and its science and environment writer. You can call him at (808) 245-3074 or e-mail jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.
