Penobscot Nation – 2018 Project

NOTE: Project pages are being updated regularly to reflect changes, if any; however, some of the information may be dated.

Summary

To further its long-term strategic energy plan, the Penobscot Indian Nation (PIN) will install energy efficient measures (EEMs) and a rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) array during the construction of its new tribal administration building. The EEMs are estimated to save approximately $46,312 per year, and the 100-kilowatt (kW) PV system will generate an estimated savings of $233,807 over a 25-year period.

With the support of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funding, PIN has developed an energy vision and strategy. PIN has also conducted analysis of possible approaches to energy independence through reduction in demand and production of energy on the Reservation. A key strategy adopted by PIN is to reduce the energy demand of tribal buildings and use their rooftops for PV energy production.

The Tribe’s old community center consumes the second highest amount of electricity among tribal buildings and uses nearly 20,000 gallons of heating oil per year. The center is an expensive energy guzzler and is beyond its useful life. As a result, with private funds, after an evaluation of a retrofit versus a demolition and new build, the Tribe chose to demolish the community center and build a new one. PIN realized that it can achieve far greater benefits for the Tribe if it does more than construct a minimum code-compliant building. This project will assist with extra measures to incorporate EEMs and PV energy on the building being built with private funds. 

This project involves: 1) installation of state-of-the-art EEMs that go well beyond minimum code requirements in the new building and 2) installation of a 100-kW solar rooftop PV system. The project will take advantage of the power company’s net-metering program, and, with excess energy production, the array will offset other tribal building energy costs. The project will: 1) produce substantial savings in energy costs as compared with the Tribe’s current electricity and fuel costs, 2) reduce the carbon footprint of the new building beyond a “minimum code building” via the installation of EEMs and the solar array, and 3) help with training for future jobs. The project furthers PIN’s long-term energy plan and the overarching tribal vision of economic development, environmental responsibility, and job creation. Implementation of EEMs and the PV system would constitute another step toward tribal energy independence.

This project will install EEMs in a new community building and install a rooftop PV solar array. The EEMs for the new community building will be implemented as the building is being built. Once the building is complete, the Tribe will install the rooftop solar array. The new build is outside the scope of this DOE-funded project.

The EEM elements the Tribe anticipates incorporating into the new community building include radiant heating, energy recovery ventilation, boiler efficiency improvements, windows, lighting efficiency, and air sealing, as well as insulation improvements to multiple building envelopes. Analysis shows that these EEMs in a new build of this size can produce a total of $46,312 in estimated annual savings.

In a previous feasibility analysis, the community building was selected to support solar PV arrays based on its size, pitch (only south- and west-pitched roofs were considered), and high energy use. Using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL’s) online PVWatts tool, the Tribe estimated the amount of energy that could be generated by installing the proposed PV arrays on the community building’s rooftop. The tribal government demands about 850,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, and by installing the solar PV array, the Tribe could supply more than 120,000 kWh, a substantial amount of the community-wide energy needs.

The Penobscot Indian Nation consists of approximately 2,300 members. The Reservation comprises more than 200 islands in the Penobscot River north of Bangor. Indian Island, the largest of the Nation’s islands, encompassing approximately 7 square miles (4,424 acres), is set in the middle of the Penobscot River near Old Town, Maine. This project will incorporate EEMs and PV energy on a new community building located on the Penobscot Indian Nation Reservation.

The project was competitively selected under the Office of Indian Energy Fiscal Year 2018 funding opportunity announcement “Energy Infrastructure Deployment on Tribal Lands - 2018” (DE-FOA-0001847) and started in October 2018.

The project status reports provide more information.