The Bahamas is a country of over 700 islands,but only 30 are inhabited. Together with Turks and Caicos islands, the Bahamas form part of the Lucayan Archipelago. islands. The archipelago stretches for more than 1,000 kms (longer than the British Isles) but has a population of less than 500,000. The islands enjoy an average of 350 sunny days per year, making them an ideal location for solar energy installations.
An islands wide grid system operated by Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) is available on New Providence(Nassau) using a gas turbine engine while 23 islands have diesel generators with mini grids covering each island. 60% of power is generated from oil based generators. The Bahamas imports $400 million of fossil fuels per year which accounts for almost 20% of the country''s income from tourism, the principal source of wealth in the country.
Other inhabited islands operate their own diesel engines and must purchase their own fuel and buy and maintain their own generators. The island of New Providence has a gas turbine engine with gas purchased from Texas.
Stability of the grid is the key issue given the widespread distribution of islands and their small permanent populations in the off season. Demand in Nassau can vary between 250 mW and 170 mW capacity through the year. After Covid approximately 1 million tourists visited the Bahamas on an overnight stay in 2021, triple the population of the country.
To maintain a reliable electric grid over a distance of 1,200 kms for less than 500,000 people is extremely difficult and costly. The grid system is distributed through overhead cables similar to the system in the US. This makes the grid very vulnerable to hurricanes and tropical storms. All solar systems and mini grids should use underground cables to distribute power on site. Extreme weather conditions including tropical storms, means maintaining an undersea cable adds substantial extra costs.
BPL has 100,000 customers including large resorts and resort hotels with varying power needs depending on the tourist season. Power requirements are recovering post covid but stability remains an issue.
Solar energy and its adoption in the Bahamas has the support of the Bahamian government. A self-sustaining solar project including battery storage on Ragged Island catering for all its 100 inhabitants was established for a total cost of $3 million. The government would like to add underground cabling for the mini grid so as to make energy provision hurricane proof.
In the longer term ''The Family Islands Solarization Program is a program launched by the Bahamas Power & Light (BPL), with support from the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and Carbon War Room''s Islands Energy Program. The program aims to develop solar energy projects on four islands: Andros, Bimini, Eleuthera and Inagua¹. The islands were chosen due to projected increases in energy demand¹. The development of the four solar-fueled power systems will set the stage to scale the Family Islands solar program across the island chain''s outlying islands, as well as contribute to the Bahamas achieving a national goal of renewable energy resources meeting 30% of electricity needs by 2030¹.
Its an ambitious programme and so many private and commercial energy users will prefer to install their own systems.
As with other energy sources Solar power can be used for all applications but with less issues about cost and convenience.
Includes all domestic uses such as air conditioners and fridges but also water supply, swimming pool and irrigation pumps. Offgrid solar will have other benefits including power for irrigation pumps to grow own crops several times a year.
National park facilities. Keeping the precious environment pristine and clean
Agricultural power needs for processing and packing
Native plant and animal reserves
Management and collection of waste – zero pollution
Street and area lighting
Solar is an ideal source of energy for the Bahamas and you could say ''it was made for this environment'' Solar satisfies all the conditions needed to benefit from offgrid solar installations;
1) Nassau, New Providence and Paradise island are home to most of the population including the main urban area. It’s also the centre for commercial business and banking, government, industry, services for tourist industry and primary infrastructure including the main airport, seaport and marinas. Nassau also has the main generators for the power system and is home to the grid which connects up all the large and some of the smaller islands.
2) Large islands which apart from Grand Bahama all have small populations but large land areas and form key parts of the tourist economy. All have connections to the grid. Andros is actually several islands but it is treated as one region and has more land area than the whole of the Bahamas. Despite its size it has less than 10,000 people with most of the islands composed of national parks. Grand Bahama – northernmost island and the only island(apart from New Providence) with a sizable population of 47,000. It includes Freeport, the second largest Bahamian town and many resorts given its proximity to Florida. Abaco and Elauthera with substantial populations are large islands connected to the grid system.
3) Small inhabited islands, many connected to the grid but some dependent on their own generators and relying on unreliable supplies of diesel fuel. There are also several uninhabited small islands which are open to tourists during the day but left to a natural ecosystem at night.
Most of Nassau will eventually be operated on solar power but in the meantime the other islands represent the best opportunity to provide reliable and plentiful solar energy.
OFFGRIDINSTALLER, a British company, can provide a long-life reliable off-grid solar system. Visit our website at to see videos and examples of installations, including the British Virgin Islands.
The average power consumption in the Bahamas is only 7,500 kWhrs per year, but many clients will require a system to cover larger consumption during the seasons of high tourist demand.
A quote can be prepared to match client demands. It can either be palletized for fitting in a designated room or in a 10 or 20-foot container to protect your system from extreme weather conditions or damage, theft or vandalism and ensure a long life for all the equipment, including inverters and battery storage.
Battery storage is Lithium-Ion Phosphate with a life of 15-20 years. The solar panels can be ground-mounted to protect them from hurricane damage.
An off-grid system will add value to your home, eliminate the problem of energy supply and remove or minimize the need for grid power. Your system will have a payback of 8-10 years. Thereafter the only cost is minimal maintenance.
For further information, please contact Sarah Sams at xxxxx or email. Once we have completed a survey of the property, a quote can be prepared in a week. If approved, a contract is prepared including a delivery date and installation.
Off-Grid Installer are proud to bring you the best solar products, sourced only from the world''s leading manufacturers.
Contact us today to speak with our experienced and knowledgable consultants — we would love to hear from you!
About Bahamas off-grid energy storage
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