PLEASE NOTE. This is a very early launch of a platform designed to update stakeholders and observers of Its Time solar schools’ projects. Current, historical and up-coming projects will be gradually added. As will the various information panels below. It is a considerable development project and we appreciate your patience as it evolves over the coming weeks. Almost certainly there will be a bug or two along the way - should you notice any issues or have ideas to improve the platform, your message is appreciated message via: iitime.org/contact-us

Its Time Foundation  (- Other)

About

Docs & Links

Specifications

Works & Maintenance

CO2 & $s

Contacts

Charge data

Term Reports

Procedures

About

The solar projects you see in this site are the initiative of Its Time Foundation with the kind support of of our financial and equipment sponsored.

Its Time Foundation delivers renewable power solutions for remote Pacific Island schools, transforming education outcomes and reducing carbon emissions.

Many island schools struggle with no electricity supply, or rely on dirty diesel generators they can barely afford to run a couple/few hours per day. The kids have little or no chance of a modern education. With the generous support of its partners, Its Time Foundation provides clean, free electricity for lighting and computers and utterly transforms the education and prospects for generations of students that will attend the schools.

The money saved on generator fuel creates decades of cash flow to buy computers and other desperately needed education resources.

While the schools are not major emitters on a world scale, the projects are helping these communities take diesel generators offline and reduce their carbon footprint. They’re proud of that and it creates immediate and relevant opportunities for education about climate change and sustainability.

School Role & Facilities
Students:
Teachers:
Classrooms:
Kindergarten:
Offices:
Library/computer area:
Teachers homes in the school grounds:
Boarders (live-in students):
Hostels (Boarding houses):
Dining rooms:
Date entered:
Our school commits to have a group of students spend at least 15 minutes, most weeks, picking up plastics. So, we keep our small part of the earth as free of plastic as possible - it's a small action we do to protect marine and other wildlife. We hope all schools in the world join us in doing the same.

Carbon Dioxide and Financial Savings
Document

Its Time Foundation

Annual school fuel saving (litres) (1)

Annual fuel saving 0 teachers' homes getting solar (litres) (2)

Annual cartage saving (litres) (3)

Total annual fuel saving (litres) (4)

Fuel saving over 30 years (litres)

Annual CO2 saving (kgs)

CO2 saving over 30 years (kgs)

Annual AUD saving (8)

Annual USD saving

Annual FJD saving

30 yrs AUD saving

30 yrs USD saving

30 yrs FJD saving

Total of All It's Time Solar Schools

Total annual school fuel saving (litres)

21,580

Total annual fuel saving 94 teachers' homes getting solar (litres)

4,300

Total annual cartage saving (litres)

3,289

Total annual fuel saving (litres) (4)

29,169

Total fuel saving over 30 years (litres)

875,070

Total annual CO2 saving (kgs)

74,373

Total CO2 saving over 30 years (kgs)

2,231,424

Total annual AUD saving (8)

$ 82,738

Total annual USD saving

$ 56,253

Total annual FJD saving

$ 124,107

Total 30 yrs AUD saving

$ 2,482,140

Total 30 yrs USD saving

$ 1,687,590

Total 30 yrs FJD saving

$ 3,723,210

Assumptions

Fuel cost in the islands in AUD/litre (5)

2.00

Fuel cartage consideration % (3)

0.15

Annual fuel consumption per teacher's home wired (litres) (2)

50.00

Annual generator maintenance consideration AUD (6)

1500.00

CO2 produced per litre of fuel burned (kgs) (7)

2.55

AUD to USD conversion rate used

0.68

AUD to FJD conversion rate used

1.50

Notes

(1) This is the annual fuel consumption based on reporting from the school at the time of school survey and affirmed at the time of installation. It refers to direct fuel use by the school, not including teachers' homes.

(2) The fuel consumption of teachers' homes varies considerable between homes and over time. Their sources of energy varies from their own small generators to shared generators, still some use kerosene for lighting and some small solar (often failing) for lights and charging. Recently on Beqa Island two of the 7 households at one school were each using 10 litres of fuel per week and some were using very little. So, we have chosen the conservative underestimate of each household saving of 2 litres per week (approx. 5 kgs of CO2).

(3) Most schools have a cost to get fuel to the school - usually small boats and car/truck on the mainland. The costs vary from small amounts to some schools where the cartage cost is almost the same as the cost of the fuel itself. The cartage consideration (dollar and carbon cost) is a percentage of the total fuel consumption, because it varies widely from school to school we have chosen quite a conservative estimate.

(4) Includes cartage and teachers' home consumption estimate that therefore contribute to the total CO2 saving. But we do not include the teachers home in the financial saving - rather we just refer to the savings from the school generator.

(5) This is the current published diesel price in Fiji presented in AUD. Often the islands pay a higher price, but that is not factored in, so generally the price will be a small under estimation.

(6) Generators often require repairs and eventually replacement. That cost varies significantly from school to school, so a conservative value is applied to represent this component of cost/saving for all schools. It is not possible to calculate that accurately for every school, hence the estimate across all.

(7) Burning diesel produces CO2 at a rate of 2.68 kgs/litre, whereas petrol produces it at a rate of 2.31 kgs/litre. We have chosen 2.55 as the approximate for our calculations because there is more diesel used than petrol in the school generators.

(8) The fuel savings in the teachers' homes are not included in the calculation of financial savings for the school. Although teachers are asked to make a small contribution each term (FJD70) for their now 24-hour power and this goes to the school to buy more education resources.

Specifications
Document


Inverters

Inverter type

Panels

Panel type

Number of panels

Array (watts)

Mountings

Mountings

Brand

Batteries

Battery type

Number of batteries

Kilowatt hours

Batteries mounted


Partners

Solar contractor

General electric works constractor

Contacts
Document
First Name Last Name Position Phone Email FB Note Edited
Charge data
Don't have login?
Document

This data is currently only available to the school and admin.

  Event

Docs & Links
Works & Maintenance
Document
24/08/2024
SMA - Simpliphi Config. File (supplied by SMA) After start up commissioning of the SMA SI8 inverter and logged into the inverter, upload this file to set to ITF required settings. Adjust settings to suit PHI3.8 batteries Ah rating.
24/08/2024
issue
Ground Mounts: Ground mount post depth Must be 1300mm deep. If rocky and can not full penetrate, the post centres may very or extra posts added (refer ...)
11/10/2024
Images: Images for sponsors Rob add sponsor list here
General: A testing record aaa
02/09/2024
Ground Mounts: Ground mount post spacing At 1800mm centre to mee Zone D cyclone rating.
24/09/2024
Ground Mounts: test
Document
Document
General: bhmb test
test
General: sss sss
Images: dsdsa dsdasdaasd
Document
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Document
Images: sadasfas asfasf
Videos: dfdfwefefw fewrwerwrewer
Videos: fsfsfsf sdfafsaq
Document
03/10/2024
Get both inverter logins Take picture of both inverter serial numbers and other name plate info
Get Va video for Ku-ring-ai maintenance their ... school and other 2
School and True Green hook up ? Banaban school maybe easier
Hook up perhaps to our sponsors CWP etc or that for Banaban - Rob work out
Dan drone flyover
Document
AC Main Switchboard Install 32 Amp MCB which supplies M.E.N Switchboard #2 and # 3
General Repairs Other AC Switchboard - M.E.N Switchboard #2 & #3  Each switchboard needs a new 10 way earthing bar
General Repairs Install a 6mm MEN link from earthing bar to Neutral bar
General Repairs Replace MCB’s - with RCBO 6A Type A .03 mS and 10A Type A .03mS) to provide protecion to property and to persons.
General Repairs Tighten the earthing bolts and bonding connections adequately/correctly
General Repairs Secure all internal hinged panels back into placement
General Repairs Fit all switchboard doors that are open or off
General Repairs Change over switch. The changeover switch is a Inverter By-Pass
General Repair AC Input 1 (generator) with AC Output 1 (MPII) and common AC load
General Repair Install AC Input 1 to changeover switch must be wired to a 20A MCB main switch – install a four way surface enclosure with this MCB beside the changeover switch.
General Repairs Battery Cabinet  Screw/ attach the Boss Battery Cabinet to the wall using roofing screws, restrain the battery from falling over during a natural event / earthquake / volcanic eruption / cyclone that shakes the building
General Repairs Disconnect the Positive and Negative battery leads at the MPII Inverter, remove the flexible conduit (Manufactures instructions) –fit bushes around the boss enclosure cable entry/exits. Seal with silicone or foam. reconnect the battery leads to the MPII Inverter
General Repair Battery Shunt  Disconnect the VE Battery shunt from inside the grey plastic box and move this into the battery cabinet. Connect the battery side of the shunt onto the Negative DC Bus-way provided inside the Boss Battery cabinet
General Repair Battery Isolator Switch  Battery Positive (red) and Battery Negative (black) must be 50mm. Rewire from the Battery Isolation switch (NH00 Fuse Carrier) to VE Lynx IN
General Repairs Lynx IN  Connect Lynx IN positive and negative to Battery DC Fusing devices
General Repair Install new 2Pole NH00 Fuse disconnector, 100Amp fuse links for Mppt 250/85
General Repair Install 35mm flexible cable from Lynx IN to NH00
General Repair Install new 2Pole NH000 Fuse disconnector, 40 Amp fuse links for Mppt 150/35
General Repair Install 35mm flexible cable from Lynx IN to NH000
General Repair DC PV Fusing protection:  Disconnect and remove the 2 x ZJBeny 32A DC Isolator switches
General Repairs Install 3 x 20 Amp/ 500V DC MCB’s (ZJBeny or Suntree) with 8 way surface enclosure
General Repairs Install 1 x 63 Amp /500 V DC MCB PV Array DC Isolator
General Repair Install 3 x 6mm Twin PVF1 from the 63Amp MCB to MPPT 250/85 + / - terminals.
General Repairs Install 1 x 20 Amp /500 V DC MCB PV Array DC Isolator with 4 way surface enclosure
General Repairs Install 1 x 6mm Twin PVF1 from the 20Amp MCB to MPPT 150/35 + / - terminals.
General Repairs PV Array:16 x Jinko 415 W  Divide / wire into 4 groups of 4
General Repairs This ground array requires 4 PV twin cables, with 1 earth wire
General Repairs Install a second underground conduit from the PCE switchboard with 1 twin core PVF1 cables and 1 x 4mm PE earth cable, use conduit plain to thread adaptor and 25mm Compression gland to seal the conduit.
General Repairs Remove all Y Branches, remove any TY brand solar plugs/sockets.
General Repairs Remove all non MC4 branded plugs and sockets, connect PV modules into 4x4 and test for ( VOC = 163.24 VDC / ISC 17.5 Amps)
General Repairs Remove all plastic cable ties, use PV2 Stainless clips to hold wires into place, use S.S cable Ɵes where required for holding/attaching conduits
General Repairs Connect the new PE green/yellow earthing conductor (minimum size 4mm) to the Clenergy solar terrace ground array with Clenergy earthing lug attachment. connect the PE bonding wire to T rail. Earth/connect all four Clenergy T-rails with minimum 4mm PE, effectively bonding them all together, do not re-use the existing earthing lug, the point penetraƟons are designed as single use. When the earthing is completed correclty, spray the fiƫngs with cold galv paint or use Denso grease tape to protect from corrosion and sea salt laden air.
General Repair Ground Array C post distances are 1.7m apart, the correct distance is 1.95m.This has created an overhang greater than normally allowable, however within reason its not necessary to install more C Posts at this site.
General Repairs Install self tapping screws into the rail splice joiners, using the center line, one screw on each side of the rail/splice. Minimum of 4 screws per joiner.
General Repairs Set and Configure – See APPENDIX 1 for more detail.  Smart-Solar Mppt 250/85 Victron Connect App: Victron Connect, Password default 000000
General Repairs Multi-Plus Equipment: Victron Energy configure with Microsoft/windows laptop and VE MK3 programmable device
LABELS Supply and install Off Grid System safety Label Kit, Clean energy council provide a QR scan code with instruc􏰀ons. – See APPENDIX 2 for more detail.
AC Main Switchboard Install a 6mm PE green/yellow cable link between the Earthing bar and Main Neutral bar, label this link M.E.N
AC Main Switchboard Install with 6mm 2C+E cable for AC Output 1
AC Main Switchboard Replace 20 A MCB with 50 Amp MCB (output Main Switch)
Document
General Repairs Uluinkakorovatu Primary School General  Supply and install Off Grid System safety Label Kit, Clean energy council provide a QR scan code with instructions – See APPENDIX 2 for more detail.
General Repairs Use P-touch label maker to identify AC circuits and make individual instructions for site specific reasons
General Repairs AC MAIN Switchboard  Install a 6mm PE green/yellow cable link (under 2 screws so removal cannot occur) between the Earthing bar and Main Neutral bar, label this link M.E.N
General Repairs Replace 32 A MCB with 50 Amp MCB (Output main switch) install with 6mm 2C+E from Inverter Output to AC Main Switch.
General Repairs 20 Amp MCB (people) is powering the other buildings M.E.N Switchboard #1, #2
General Repairs Replace C10 People MCB with RCBO C10 Type A .03mS (personal protection RCD for general purpose power-outlets)
General Repairs Other AC Switchboard - M.E.N Switchboard #1 & #2 Each switchboard needs a new 10 way earthing bar.
General Repairs Install a 6mm MEN link from new earthing bar to Neutral bar
General Repairs Replace MCB’s – 2A or 4A with RCBO 6A Type A .03mS) this would provide RCD protection to property (.1mS) and protection to persons (.03mS)
General Repairs Tighten the earthing bolts and bonding connections adequately/correctly
General Repairs Secure all internal hinged panels back into placement
General Repairs Fit all switchboard doors that are open or of
General Repairs Change over switch. The changeover switch is a Inverter By-Pass.
General Repairs AC Input 1 (generator) with AC Output 1 (MPII) and common AC load
General Repairs Install AC Input 1 to changeover switch must be wired to a 20A MCB main switch – install a four way surface enclosure with this MCB beside the changeover switch
General Repairs Battery Cabinet Screw the Boss Battery Cabinet to the wall using roofing screws, restrain the battery from falling over during a natural event / earthquake / volcanic eruption
General Repairs Battery Shunt Disconnect the VE Battery shunt, must be screwed to the backside of the wooden main panel. Move battery shunt into Boss Battery Box. Connect onto the Negative DC Bus-way provided inside the Boss Battery cabinet
General Repairs Finish the main battery lead entry's into the cabinet with glands/ bushes, seal the hole with fire retardant putty.
General Repairs Battery Isolation switch Battery Positive (red) and Battery Negative (black) must be 50mm. Rewire from the Battery Isolation switch (NH00 Fuse Carrier) to VE Lynx IN.
General Repairs Lynx IN Install new 2Pole NHOO Fuse disconnector, 100Amp fuse links for Mppt 250/85
General Repairs From Lynx IN to NH00 use 35mm flexible cable
General Repairs DC Fusing protection: Disconnect and remove the ZJBeny 32A DC Isolator switch
General Repairs Install 3 x 20 Amp/ 500V DC MCB’s (ZJBeny or Suntree) with 8 way surface enclosure
General Repairs Install 1 x 63 A DC MCB PV DC Array Isolator
General Repairs Install 1 x 25mm Twin PVF1 from DC MCB to 250/85 MPPT + / -
General Repairs Disconnect the Positive and Negative battery leads at the MPII Inverter, remove the flexible conduit (Manufactuers instructions) – fit bushes around the boss enclosure cable entry/exits. Seal with silicone or foam.
General Repairs reconnect the battery leads to the MPII Inverter
General Repairs PV Array:15 x Jinko 415 W in Parallel with multiple Y branches Divide the 3 groups with 3 PV twin cables and 1 earth wire.
General Repairs Install a second conduit from the PCE switchboard with 1 twin core PVF1 cables and 1 x 4mm PE earth cable
General Repairs Install conduit plain to thread adaptor and 25mm Compression gland to seal the conduit on the roof
General Repairs Remove all Y Branches
General Repairs Remove all non MC4 branded plugs and sockets, connect PV modules into 3 strings of 5 modules and test for ( VOC = 204.05 VDC / ISC 17.5 Amps
General Repairs Remove all plastic cable ties, use PV2 Stainless clips to hold wires into place, use S.S cable ties where required for holding/attaching conduits.
General Repairs Disconnect and remove the existing Clenergy L feet assembly
General Repairs Install Clenergy Tilt system at 20 degree.
General Repairs Connect the new PE green/yellow earthing conductor (minimum size 4mm) to the Clenergy solar tilt system array with Clenergy earthing lug attachment. connect the PE bonding wire to ECO rail. Earth/connect both top and bottom Clenergy rails with minimum 4mm PE, use the eco rail splice on all rails, effectively earth bonding.
General Repair Spray the fittings with cold galv paint or use Denso grease tape to protect from corrosion and sea salt laden air.
General Repairs Set and Configure – See APPENDIX 1 for more detail  Smart-Solar Mppt 250/85 Victron Connect App: Victron Connect, Password default 000000
General Repairs Multi-Plus Equipment: Victron Energy configure with Microsoft/windows laptop and VE MK3 programmable device
Document
Document
11/10/2024
SMA SI8-Simplphi Config. File After start up commissioning of the SMA SI8 inverter and logged into the inverter, upload this file to set to ITF required settings. Adjust settings to suit PHI3.8 batteries Ah rating (see SMA - SimpliPhi PHI Battery Integration Guide - other QC item)
11/10/2024
11/10/2024
Ground mount post depth Must be 1300mm deep. If rocky and can not full penetrate, the post centres may very or extra posts added (refer ...)
11/10/2024
Images for sponsors Rob add sponsor list here
11/10/2024
Interviews and videos Rob to add here - inc. Solar cutters
Post Distances Ground mount. Do at maximum wind rating.
11/10/2024
Ground mount post spacing At 1800mm centre to mee Zone D cyclone rating.
11/10/2024
A testing record aaa
11/10/2024
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11/10/2024
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11/10/2024
Lighting school Lighting: Standard classrooms 3x 1200mm LED     45m^2 6x 1200mm LED     90m^2 Nightstudy rooms 3x 1200mm LED     30m^2 6x 1200mm LED     60m^2 Other rooms (staffroom, offices etc) reduce lighting inline with room use. External lights are placed every 12m along length of school buildings, hostel and toilet blocks.
11/10/2024
Lighting quarters Teachers Quarters as discussed are 1x 1200mm, 3x 600mm and 1x external.
11/10/2024
Register Inverters on Sunny Portal
11/10/2024
11/10/2024
Send images of inverter name plates to ITF
11/10/2024
Login and name plate info Take picture of both inverter serial numbers and other name plate info
11/10/2024
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