Mount Desert Rock is a treeless island about 25 nautical miles south of Bar Harbor. Because of its location a lighthouse was placed on the island in the 19th century. In addition to the lighthouse the island has a house and barn used to house light-keeper families. As with nearly all lighthouses the operation of the light is now automated. Now the island is the home of the Edward McC. Blair Marine Research Station.
In the early 1970s, students, staff, and faculty from College of the Atlantic visited the island. They noted that the site was a prime location for marine mammal research. This facility has been a key element of the work done by Allied Whale, the whale research group at College of the Atlantic. Currently during the whale research season the work there is powered using diesel fuel generators. In addition o the cost and the environmental impact of the generators, certain types of work are influenced by the presence of the emissions from the generators. The goal of this project is to evaluate, design and verify the application of wind power for the energy needs of the rock.
More pictures and information at:
Hard Milestones (more to be added):
Milestones
- Identify primary contact person/s at COA and MDR: September 18, 2007
- First Web page draft: September 18, 2007
- Completed interviews and summary document to determine power needs for the research station: September 25, 2007
- Review available Literature and Publications on Maine offshore wind energy availability
- Generate a power density estimation for wind on Mount Desert Rock
- Summary Document for household and small commercial wind generation
- First web page goes live with introductory page and menu on left. Page must include resumes, individual photos and milestones: October 11, 2007, 2 pm.
- Complete evaluation of average wind speed and duty cycle
- Complete estimation of cost per kilowatt hour generated
- Summery of available literature on optimization of wind generation
- Milestone review: November 6th , 2007
- Identify hardware capable of powering the rock, generation capability
- Draft Midterm Report: December 6th , 2007
- Midterm Report due as a PDF posted as a completed web page: December 19th, 11:30 am
- Complete identification of control hardware requirements
- Completed total budget
- Identify sources of funding.
- Complete proposal to at least one potential source of funds for project
- Lab Cleanup & Infrastructure Project Completed: Maine Day, April 30th, 2008
- Open House -- Review of Projects, May 1st, 2008, Afternoon
- Final Web Page submitted, for review during final exam period: Monday May 5th, 2008 Noon