Sunspear Energy announced Wednesday it will install a 276 kW solar system at Island Recycling in Kapolei.
To provide power to the multi-commodity recycling center, Sunspear will build a carport structure over the employee parking lot area that will consist of 460 solar panels and a two-hour battery system. The system will be constructed with galvanized steel to provide protection from the elements as the project is located close to the ocean, according to the announcement.
“Island Recycling’s energy problem is a unique one to solve because the facility uses a huge amount of power in short bursts but very little power when the machinery is inactive and not running, so this activity fluctuates quickly during their operating hours,” Sunspear Energy CEO and co-founder Jeff Kaemmerlen said in a statement. “This is where solar, battery storage, and a state-of-the-art energy management system comes in: The system uses machine learning to recognize spikes in energy demand and shaves off those high-energy spikes by dispatching power instantly from the battery.”
The photovoltaic system is projected to produce around 450,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity during its first year of operation. Each year, the system is expected to offset greenhouse gas emissions from 21,987 gallons of gasoline consumed, the electricity usage of 38 homes, 218,877 pounds of coal burned, and 452 barrels of oil consumed, according to the announcement. A spokesperson for Sunspear did not immediately respond to an inquiry from PBN regarding details about the cost of the project.
