Lihou seeks a solar solution

Tuesday 10 March 2020

The battery inverters that run Lihou Island's solar system have broken, leading to a plea for sponsorship from the island's warden so that its cost-effective and environmentally-friendly power supply can be restored.

The Lihou Island Charitable Trust has been reliant on its diesel generator for power since the Sunny Island battery inverters that generate and store energy broke down.

At 16 years of age, the equipment cannot be repaired and instead needs to be replaced at a cost of around £8,000 to £10,000.  

"We need to have reliable power because at the moment we have to top up with diesel every 24 hours, which adds risk as well because it needs to be transported over to the island," said Lihou Warden Steve Sarre.

"We have to shut the whole house down otherwise we would be running the generator 24/7, which costs a lot of money."

"Usually we don’t need the generator for 10 months of the year and it will only kick in if there is a surge in the need for power."

Pictured: The island's solar system is usually sufficient to power Lihou House.

Guernsey's school children are regular visitors to Lihou, and Mr Sarre said the solar systems installed on the island are vital as an educational resource, as he will run sessions with the youngsters geared around improving their knowledge of renewable energy through fun activities such as creating wind turbines. 

The solar system is also vital to the island in other ways and its outage means that Mr Sarre cannot currently power the island's defibrillator, which was installed following a fundraising campaign last year. 

"If we are running only on the diesel generator, we cannot get our defibrillator going because it has to have power to it 24/7 for the little heater inside it," he said.

"When the solar system is running we only do a tank of diesel a year. It is very cost effective, very environmentally friendly and means we don’t need to use the generator for nine to ten months of the year."

To contact Mr Sarre about potential sponsorship or to offer assistance, email him on info@lihouisland.com.

Pictured top: Lihou Island Warden Steve Sarre.