Rabi High School is saving over $7000 per year that is now spent on books, software and other education resources. Considering the solar system will last more than twenty years that means approximately $150,000 is diverted to education over the life of the system. That is a big deal when the average family income is less than $100 per month. The system will also save as much as 150 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Rabi Island is inhabited by Banaban people. In the early 1900s their original home, Ocean Island, was taken over by the British to mine phosphate. After the second World War, due to the degradation of their island, they were relocated thousands of kilometres away to Rabi in the northern Fijian group. While they endured many hardships, a population of four thousand people live on Rabi today. Subsistence farming and fishing are the main occupations. Rabi has a primary school in each of the four villages and a central high school at Tabiang.
Parents place great importance on the education. Some families, from the more distant village, leave their homes for the school term and build makeshift housing on land near the school. Then fish and do other jobs so their children can attend high school.
Rabi High School has two-hundred and eighty students and twenty-three teachers. Classes are from years seven to eleven. There are five teachers' residences within the school grounds.
Prior to the solar system a diesel generator supplied power for office equipment, computer and woodwork classes. In the evenings the generator ran from six to ten to supply power to the teachers' residences. Four nights each week the lights in the school are powered so the children can do night study because many homes don't have sufficient lighting. There were periods when the school had no power simply because the price of fuel was too high and they didn't have the funds available (makes the computer sciences classes a challenge!).
Rabi High School now enjoys constant daytime power for computers, office equipment and the PA system. The larger equipment in the woodwork room requires the generator to be started for short periods. Teachers' residences still have power access from six to ten pm, but most of it is now clean power with the generator only used for limited periods to supplement their needs.
An added benefit is that the inverter now protects the school computers and other equipment from damage. The generator was delivering 'spiky' power that damaged the computers—the school previously had ten donated computers, eight of which burned out.
Generator use is expected to drop by seventy-five percent, saving approximately 150 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the expected twenty-five year life of the system.
Please note: the carbon saving estimate does not account for the system's manufacture and transport because this is more than offset by the reduced transport requirement for fuel, generator maintenance and probable generator replacement.
Each year over $7000 will be saved on generator fuel. That is channelled directly into education resources. With the escalating price of fuel, this saving is likely to increase. In this low income community the renewable system is making a huge difference.
With the fuel savings the school is currently establishing a permanent internet connection, purchasing new software, networking equipment, documentary DVDs and building fume cupboards in the science room.
While students are able to study computer science, the school was down to only two functional computers that were donated ten years ago. So nine Apple laptops were donated independent of the core funding of the solar system (computers are not a deliverable of the Foundation).
Arranging communication, supplies and installation in remote communities is complex, so a carefully documented pilot was essential. We are delighted to report the project was a great success and is a robust template for future projects.
The biggest event on Rabi each year is the grand final (above) of the four villages competition.
These guys know as much (if not more) about Australian rugby as the average Aussie.
During the last world cup, in the middle of the night, a group carried a potable generator and TV to the top of a nearby hill. There they could get reception.