From: tgray@igc.apc.org (Tom Gray)
Newsgroups: alt.sustainable.agriculture
Subject: Remote Renewables in Indonesia
Date: 4 Jan 93 18:04:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1738700002:000:3305
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!tgray    Jan  4 10:04:00 1993


[from DevelopNet News, January 1993]

REMOTE-CONTROLLED POWER IN INDONESIA

By the end of March 1993, two remote Indonesian locations now without
utility-grade power will receive it from complex arrays of local gener
ators. The systems will be automatically managed from Rockville,
Maryland, by electronic messages carried by VITASAT, VITA's communica
tions satellite. This is believed to be the first use of a low earth-
orbiting satellite for the remote control of a complex technical system.

The communities are Tanglad on the island of Nusa Penida about 20 km off
the coast of Bali, and Bonto village on Sumbawa Island. The systems will
provide power for over 500 households, community centers, clinics, and
schools, as well as rural enterprises.

The systems contain photovoltaic arrays, wind turbines, battery banks,
diesel generators, and microprocessor system controllers. They will be
equipped for remote automated communications, control, evaluation and
supervision. The VITASAT ground station installed at each Indonesian
site will collect data at least daily and transmit them to the satellite
as it passes overhead. Later, the data will be downloaded to another
VITASAT ground station in Rockville. There, at the control headquarters
of the Integrated Power Corporation (IPC), the data will be used to
assess each systems' performance. IPC will then send instructions back
to the systems via VITASAT on a return orbit.

VITA's involvement results from an agreement with IPC, a subsidiary of
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, and is funded by the U.S. Agency for
International Development and the U.S. Export Council for Renewable
Energy. IPC has developed its project in cooperation with BPP Teknologi
of the Government of Indonesia.

Information: Joe Sedlak, VITA.


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