Alternative Energy in Chicken, AK Part 1

ENERGY STORAGE

Reliable, cost effective and environmentally sustainable energy storage is a key to making alternative energy solutions competitive against other sources for the long term. Solar, wind, hydro, and tidal energy are abundant at times and in certain regions. Without the means to store this energy for when times are lean and make it accessible to all, it is easy to fall back onto fossil fuels.

ALASKA CHALLENGES IN REMOTE LOCATIONS

Which brings me to my upcoming summer project with our new solar kit. For those of you who follow my posts regularly, our cabin is in a remote region of Alaska, subject to extreme temperatures. The record low for Chicken is -76. The highs can easily hit 80-90 in the summer months, where our ridge easily gets 21+ hours of sunlight a day at its peak.

View of the sunset from our cabin. Time is approximately midnight at the summer solstice. The sun will dip behind the mountains for about 3 hours, never quite getting dark..

BATTERIES AND PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF SOLAR ENERGY

Battery longevity and efficiency is of extreme importance. Batteries are expensive parts of a photovoltaic system. They are, at their heart, simple devices. By definition, a battery is two dissimilar metals immersed in an electrolytic (typically acid) solution. This creates a chemical reaction. They are also (depending on their construction), highly corrosive and toxic waste in landfills. It is important that as we develop alternative energy storage solutions, we maximize storage efficiency to minimize waste and reduce cost. The extremes in temperatures that I mentioned above can degrade a battery’s life, requiring it to be replaced more frequently, thus adding more waste to our landfills and requiring more mining of rare earth minerals.

Me out in Chicken taking a break with Jane Friedman’s the Business of Being a Writer

I will be conducting a study of our system, keeping track of load, temperatures, charge and charge times, acid levels and specific gravity. I will track this information as a means to help manufacturers and researchers refine their processes to create energy storage solutions that can better withstand extreme environments and improve alternative energy accessibility for all.

This will be the first of many projects we hope to bring to life out in the 31 remote acres in the 40-Mile District of Alaska. Thanks for reading. In my next blog, I will discuss a little more in-depth on the details of our system design and capacity.

Summer of 2020 IS GOING TO BE AN ADVENTURE!

HOLD MY BEER!

Me and my father-in-law Shep, having a beer at the bar in Chicken, AK

Thanks for reading. I plan on posting many of our adventures this summer and beyond as I move into my next phase of my life and career. In the meantime, if you are looking for a fictional Alaska adventure, The Dark Land is available on Amazon

The legend of Alaska’s Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. Its hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter. Courage, skill and love will be stretched to the limits on the isolated boundaries of The Dark Land.

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