Kaho’olawe, Hawaii · 2018
Kaho’olawe Island Base Camp
A 99.96 kW ground-mount array at the Honokanai'a Base Camp on Kaho'olawe, paired with battery backup and a desalination plant. Powers KIRC's restoration of a Native Hawaiian dryland forest and cuts the camp's carbon footprint by an estimated 53.3 tons.
System size
99.96 kW-DC
Completed
2018
- Location
- Kaho’olawe, Hawaii
- Modules
- 294 × Trina TSM-340PD14
- Mounting system
- FastRack 510-6dg at 10° tilt
- Mount type
- Ground mount
Why this project worked
- Powers KIRC's restoration of a Native Hawaiian dryland forest across 28,780 acres
- Paired with a 60 kW battery backup and redesigned desalination plant
- Cuts the base camp's carbon footprint by an estimated 53.3 tons
- BASF Ultramid polymer racking engineered for Hawaii's salt-spray coastal environment
Overview
Originally built in the mid-1980s to support live-fire weapons training for the U.S. Navy, the Kaho’olawe Base Camp has been repurposed by the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC) and its volunteer teams. The camp now serves the commission's mission to restore a Native Hawaiian dryland forest across 28,780 acres, protect 51,200 acres of reserve waters, preserve 3,000 historic sites, and train the next generation of stewards of Kaho‘olawe.
Alongside a redesigned desalination plant, a 60 kW battery backup, and renovations to the dining hall and kitchen, the ground-mounted PV installation is expected to decrease the base camp's carbon footprint by 53.3 tons. The 99.96 kW-DC array carries 294 Trina TSM-340PD14 modules on Sollega's FastRack 510-6dg at a 10° tilt.
Sollega has a long history of work on the Hawaiian islands — see also the Honolulu and Kahului Airports and Kona Village Resort case studies — where the FR510-6dg's polymer frames withstand the salt-spray environments that quickly degrade metal racking. The non-corrosive BASF Ultramid material was a natural fit for a coastal site that has to endure decades of operation with minimal maintenance access.
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