Solar Goes to the Navaho Reservation

A revived solar power initiative of the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority is bringing electricity to the homes of people living in remote areas of the 200 square mile reservation. NTUA is spending $2 million for 200 PV systems for people who live in areas too remote to be served by the utility grid. The U.S. Department of Energy Sandia National Labs provides technical support to ensure the units are properly installed and working as intended.

Between 10,000 – 30,000 Navajos do not have access to electric power in the reservation, which covers parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. The PV systems will give some of these people their first opportunity to live in an illuminated world – having access to electric light, radios, television, and computers.

A similar experiment failed in the early 1990s failed because the systems weren’t maintained. Now, the systems will be maintained for 15 years, after which the ownership and maintenance of the systems will be turned over to customers.

Sandia engineer, Marlene Brown, travels once a month to Navajo country to troubleshoot units at the homes with PV installations. A Sandia-trained NTUA technician accompanies her to show customers how to maintain and use the equipment properly.

“The people are so pleased to have the units,” she says. “Before, many of them used generators for limited power or had no power at all. Now they have power provided by a clean, quiet source.”

Chris Burroughs, Sandia National Labs: coborro@sandia.gov
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