Remote Telecommunications for the Yurok Tribe

Project Title:

Responsible Organisation:

Schatz Energy Research Center

Website:

www.humboldt.edu/~serc/schoolhousepeak.html

Organisation Type:

Academic

Project Director:

Peter Lehman

Partner Organisations:

Humboldt State University

Administrative Country:

USA

Project Region:

Americas

Project Country:

USA

Project Funding:

Type of technology used:

Communication; Remote Power

Technology Details:

Photovoltaic cells and fuel cells to power a microwave repeater.

Support Of Technology Company:

Conservation/Developmant Focus:

Reliable telephone service for a tribe on a remote reservation

Project Duration:

October 1999-May 2003

Project Aims:

To supply a phone servive to the tribe, a key repeater was needed in Redwood National Park, where fossil fuels cannot be used and PV cannot supply adequate power during the rainy winter season. This project aimed to use a fuel cell to address this problem.

Project Activities:

The fuel cell system, was located inside the watchtower. The fuel cell stack itsel was a relatively small 34-cell unit. When the fuel cell was running, it generated enough power to run the microwave repeater and its parasitic loads. It was fueled by hydrogen gas stored in 12 industrial gas cylinders that were manifolded together. The hydrogen gas cylinders were refilled by truck after about 1000 hours of operation, approximately 2 months in the winter. In the summer, the PV array carried most of the load.

Project Results:

The system first went online in October 1999. It ran without incident for 3,239 hours over 229 days. The stack ultimately failed when high ambient temperatures caused the stack to overheat, developing a cross-leak. An improved and rebuilt stack was subsequently installed and operated for 3,836 hours over 269 days. The stack was again replaced in June 2002. In all, the system logged over 8,000 hours of run-time. The stack operated at a net efficiency of 49% (Lower Heating Value) and consistently maintained the system batteries at a minimum of 50% state of charge. In May 2002, the Yurok Tribe added 8 solar modules to the PV array and replaced the battery bank. Shortly thereafter, they added a police radio repeater to the system, significantly increasing the electrical load. In May 2003, land line telephone service was installed at the upper reservation, making the microwave repeater system obsolete. The photovoltaic system and batteries were considered sufficient to support the police radio repeater without additional backup, so the fuel cell stack was retired from service.

Future Steps:

Technology Lessons Learned:

Contact Name 1:

Telephone/Fax 1:

Tel +1 707 826 4345 Fax +1 707 826 4347

Postal Address 1:

Schatz Energy Research Centre, Humboldt State University, Arcata CA95521

Email 1:

serc@humboldt.edu

Contact Name 2:

Telephone/Fax 2:

Postal Address 2:

Email 2:

Organisation Summary:

General Text:

Project Image: