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Parker Ranch cattle
to drink up energy
from wind, sun

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By Frankie Stapleton
Special to the Star-Bulletin

WAIMEA, Hawaii -- Parker Ranch's 50,000 head of cattle will soon be drinking water pumped to them by way of an oil-saving, solar- and wind-powered system.

Carl Carlson, Parker Ranch president, said yesterday that a two-acre solar array and five wind turbines should produce more than half the energy the ranch needs to get drinking water to its herds.

The project, due to be operational next month, will generate 175 kilowatts of solar power during daylight hours, using a tracking system that keeps the photovoltaic panels directed toward the sun. The operation is expected to save more than 1,000 barrels of imported oil each year of its projected 30-year life.

PowerLight Corp. of Berkeley, Calif., producer of the hybrid renewable energy system, has also been signed to a maintenance performance agreement, said Riley Smith, Parker Ranch vice president for project management.

Acknowledging maintenance problems that have plagued wind-powered turbines elsewhere on the Big Island, Smith said, "We feel that with newer technology, a lot of the earlier problems have been worked out."

He said the ranch, which encompasses 225,000 acres on the Big Island, will not be selling any of the power generated by its new system to the Hawaii Electric grid.

"While they may charge you and me 20 cents a kilowatt, they only pay us three cents per kilowatt," Smith said.

Noting that the price of fossil fuels "may go up slowly or quickly -- they never go down, so becoming less dependent on petroleum sources is in our long-term best interest."

Smith said there are no springs or wells above the 4,000-foot elevation of Mauna Kea where the ranch grazes its cattle, so the animals' drinking water must be pumped up to the 7,000-foot level.

Lack of rain keeps much of Kohala's cattle country tinder dry. Smith said the ranch does not irrigate its pastures and when there is less moisture in the grass, the cattle drink more water.

"Parker Ranch is delighted to harness the natural energy of the sun and wind to reduce our electrical costs," Carlson stated. "Renewable power fits right in with the ranch's policy of environmental stewardship."