UNPEPP 2000: Prairie Creek State Park
SERC used UNPEPP funding to hire two student interns from Humboldt State University's Environmental Resources Engineering (ERE) program. The interns, Lonny Grafman and Angi Sorensen, worked in summer 2000 on the design of two renewable energy systems for use at Prairie Creek State Park, a unit of the Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP). The systems will be installed at a campground restroom and a ranger residence complex. The interns spent twelve weeks monitoring on-site energy use, tracking solar energy availability, and creating preliminary designs for the two systems.

UNPEPP 2000 interns, park administrators and SERC staff discuss plans for renewable energy systems at Redwood National and State Parks.

SERC engineers, ERE students, and Park employees help hoist a photovoltaic panel on to the roof of the WCOS.	SERC engineers, ERE students, and Park employees pose in front of the new photovoltaic system they installed at WCOS.

UNPEPP 2002 and 2004: Kuchel Visitor Center
Located sixty miles south of the Oregon border along the scenic California coast line, the Kuchel Visitor Center (KVC, formerly the Redwood Information Center) acts as a gateway to California redwood country. On average, around 5000 visitors from around the world visit KVC each month. In the summer of 2002 SERC used UNPEPP funding to hire two student interns from HSU's ERE program. The interns, Kelly Miess and Andrew Sorter, worked on the design and installation of a solar thermal system for the KVC. In the twelve-week project period, the 2002 interns monitored energy use, designed the system, procured materials, and performed the installation.

UNPEPP 2002 interns and a SERC engineer install the solar thermal system at the Kuchel Visitor Center in Orick, CA.

The solar thermal system provides hot water for the restroom sinks and facility maintenance at KVC. The new water heater is an active indirect solar thermal system from Heliodyne, Inc. A propane-fired on-demand heater from Aqua Star provides supplemental heating when necessary. The interns also provided RNSP staff with preliminary designs for interpretive materials to teach KVC visitors about the renewable energy system that is providing them with hot water. In 2004 SERC received funding to turn these preliminary designs into full-fledged interpretive materials. Working with RNSP staff, SERC developed and delivered a brochure on the solar thermal system at KVC and developed and installed a wayside panel that depicts the various UNPEPP-funded renewable energy projected located within RNSP.

The UNPEPP 2004 project built upon the 2002 work to make the KVC a model for efficient and renewable energy technologies. During the twelve-week project period, interns Dave Carter and Nicole Campbell quantified the energy use at KVC, identified areas where energy consumption could be reduced without inconveniencing park staff or visitors, and designed three different grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems. Each PV design provided a certain percent of KVC's reduced electrical demand. Installation of a grid-connected photovoltaic system in combination with the recommended efficiency and conservation measures could provide significant economic benefits for Redwood National and State Parks, as well as provide an opportunity for the visiting public to learn about efficient and renewable energy technologies.

Projected load profile of KVC after recommended energy efficiency and conservation measures are implemented.		A conceptual rendering of the proposed 6kW photovoltaic system. It is shown mounted on the southern east-facing roof above the covered deck.
		SERC student assistant Peter Johnstone poses in front of Kuchel Visitor Center's new wayside panel.

UNPEPP 2006: Installation of a Hybrid Solar Electric System at Espa Lagoon
The 2006 UNPEPP project goal was to design and install a hybrid solar electric system at a ranger residence on Espa Lagoon, in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park unit of Redwood National and State Parks. Two interns, Matt Smith and Erin McDonald, worked with SERC engineers and Park staff to procure equipment and coordinate the design and installation of the system. The design and site analysis was based upon recommendations made by previous UNPEPP interns in 2000 (Grafman and Sorensen). Much of the equipment needed to complete the installation was inherited from previous park projects, including fourteen photovoltaic (PV) modules, an inverter, a charge controller, a generator, and an automatic transfer switch.

The equipment was performance tested, and an optimal placement on the site was decided upon. After construction and procurement of the balance of the system equipment, the installation went forward. Based on performance measurements and considering the available solar energy resource (corrected for shading), the PV system output is expected to be an annual average of 2.25 kWh per day. Including efficiency and transmission losses, the PV system is expected to provide an average of 1.49 kWh per day to the ranger residence, or 38% of the measured load.

UNPEPP interns Erin McDonald and Matt Smith (bottom right) and Park personnel pose with the newly installed PV array.