Eric Youngren Brings Solar Power to Africa — and Orcas!

— by Margie Doyle —

Eric Youngren in Tanzania

Island-raised Eric Youngren has taken his own love of the outdoors global, to the benefit of African communities that now have basic power for the first time.

The road to Africa started on Orcas where Eric was raised; he graduated from Orcas High School in 1988. His education continued at Pomona College in California, through  National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) courses and graduate school.

Off-grid energy
Kayaking trips introduced him to homes in remote locations in Mexico — similar to energy systems on remote San Juan Islands — powered  off the electric grid (off-grid) with solar energy. So when he ended up back on Orcas, about 12 years ago, he went into the family business — the salmon hatchery in Eastsound.

There he developed a small micro-hydroelectric system and sought the advice of John Mottl, owner of Rain Shadow Solar, owner of the oldest and largest electric-solar power company in San Juan County. Youngren then managed Rain Shadow when Mottl went on an extended sabbatical, and learned the fine points of solar technology and running a business.

In 2008, Youngren started Island Energy Systems to supply complete off-grid solar power systems. The basics of his systems are using photo-voltaic (PV) panels to charge batteries, using  electronics to take the power out of batteries, and converting direct current (DC) into alternating current (AC) through inverters.

However, it is critical that specialty DC rated circuit breakers, distributed solely by Mottle and Rainshadow, be used in his “power centers” installations.

Youngren explains on his Solar Nexus company website, “In addition to being the solar electric installation contractor for San Juan County, Rainshadow is a wholesale distributor of DC rated circuit breakers  [to protect the electronics]to the solar electric industry. That is a part of the business that John Mottl started in the mid-90´s [when]… there was a need for specialty DC breakers in the newly emerging solar electric industry.

“While I was at Rainshadow I spent a lot of time with these breakers. The problem is, however, there are limited options for breaker boxes or enclosures in which to install these breakers.” So Youngren began making customized boxes for the breakers, or, as he describes them, “small integrated power centers for my low power off-grid customers. It was a fun design challenge as much as anything and I would drill, cut and nibble holes in steel or plastic boxes to mount PV array combiner breakers, array disconnects, controller, load and small inverter breakers.

“In addition to the DC breakers I see the need for a product that includes fully pre-wired electronics such as PV charge controllers and inverters in a low-power ‘plug and play’ power center.”

Youngren’s first independent project was to power a former sugar plantation in the West Indies. Soon afterwards, he was contacted by former clients who were in Guinea-Bissau in West Africa; they were running a school and needed power alternatives.

Solar Aid
In Guinea-Bissau, Youngren found a whole country without power as we know it, functioning only with generators. He integrated a home solar-power package for his clients to install with local help. When he’d finished that project, he heard from a college friend in Tanzania who was affiliated with a non-governmental organization, Solar Aid.

As a volunteer with Solar Aid in Tanzania, Youngen saw that the overall success of power systems was hampered by a lack of integration. While there was access to good quality, prime components; the  inner connection parts from electrical suppliers was often not appropriate.

He also saw that off-grid solar in African had the potential to be a big market but for the gaps in the systems. He wrote a white paper on the situation, “Shortcut to Failure,” that was presented at an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) conference. His presentation addressed the common issues and recommended best practices.

Youngren says, “In Africa I saw a lack of well-trained technicians and access to good quality components. The excitement for me is finding a way to improve the quality of systems so they’ll last longer.”

Pico Boss
He started working on a small scale market: one battery, one light, one home. And the market for small-scale off-grid power is expanding fast. Solar Aid in Tanzania was his first customer for the power centers. In 2009 he had 30 customers; in 2010 his customer base had grown to 80 — all installed in schools in Tanzania to power computers and light. “The market is exploding in pico-lanterns in the last year or so,” he says, explaining that beyond micro, beyond nano, is pico, which is one-trillionth of a watt (the rate of energy conversion).

Given this expanding market, Youngren is not sitting back, rather, he’s started a new company called Pico Boss, to provide small power centers using ultra-thin, inexpensive wiring. It has the potential to be a whole new platform to deliver energy in small systems, a few lights and a phone charge in peoples’ homes.

While this approach brings consumption down to pico scale, it’s not a long-term solution, so Youngren has added a hardwire platform, so that the system is more robust and longer-lasting. Then a small, community-owned power coop will be able to tap into the power source system collectively. Village battery power can be maintained in one place, with micro-grid architecture, rather than one house at a time, with a pay-as-you-go energy monitor.

Youngren says, “It’s the lowest cost, most robust way of delivering power in a pay-as-you-go model, through centralized architecture.”

Terrawatt Prize
His company, Solar Nexus, is now in competition for a prize sponsored by the National Geographic Society. The competition calls for proposals for village-scale solutions providing three lights and a cell phone charger for at least 50 homes. Solar Nexus’ proposal is for Chole Island in Tanzania. Having worked there with Solar Aid in 2010, Youngren says that the eco-resort of 900 people within two square miles is a natural partner to choose for the Terrawatt Prize. Chole Island also is inside a national park, in a country with “strong national identification and pride, that is politically stable, with a growing economy — there’s lot of energy stuff going on there.”

Meanwhile, back on the Rock
While on Orcas, Youngren is working closely with the OPALCO on the Community Solar Effort. He just retired from a term on the Board of Directors of the Funhouse Commons. He plans a crowd-sourcing campaign to help fund the Chole project.

He is also in the Research and Development phase of his new technology, which will be tested at Doe Bay’s seasonal staff campground this summer. Sales and demonstrations are ahead, as is setting up a warehouse /office in Skagit County later this summer or fall.

He is on the steering committee for OPALCO’s Member Owned Renewable Energy (MORE) Committee, which, with the San Juan Islands Conservation District’s Islands Energy, is working to coordinate three energy fairs.

The energy fairs will be held in May and June to help the San Juan Islands community increase energy resilience and become an energy-saving model for the nation. Youngren will give the Keynote Address on June 7 for the Island Energy Fair. (More information on the Energy Fairs at orcasissues.com/saving-energy)

He says, “I’ve been so lucky to be able to get my start in solar around here, where people do live off the grid, and then be able to take that knowledge international.

“Living on an island helps people develop a more intuitive understanding of whole systems. That’s what off -grid is all about. Plus, people on Orcas tend to have a global, world-view.”

In responding to the Intergovermental Panel of Climate Change Report (ipcc.ch/report/ar5/) Youngren wrote:

“We can EMPOWER ourselves with renewable energy, conservation and efficiency to solve the climate crisis AND make a better world for ourselves and our children in the process. Duh! Lets DO IT.”