The Green Corridor: Green Living Off the Grid! – How Inspiration from Fiji can Power Green Logistics

By Timothy Foote, Director Transportation & Network APAC at Asendia and Founder of Susymbio

Assets are the theme for October, and when it comes to sustainable energy there is likely no better asset than solar power panels and power converters. These assets have fundamentally changed the energy and power landscape for the world. This fact was once again demonstrated to me during a recent trip I made to Fiji.

On the Island of Taveuni sits a comfortable dive resort. My wife and I were able to spend a beautiful week there this August. The chance to unwind and see the wonderful ocean life in the South Pacific was truly magical. We first visited Taveuni dive resort in 2016, and I can report to you that the ocean life there now is as good as it was then.

During the ritual – “dive, eat, sleep and repeat” routine of our days there, I had some time to talk with Carl the owner of the resort. He shared several snippets regarding how he was able to set up the resort over the years. His struggles to keep his boats afloat, the escapades of his remarkable staff, and the challenges of reconstruction after Cyclone Winston.

Making a business in the remote part of Taveuni makes for some incredible challenges. That said, the assets that Carl put in place early has allowed for continued operation and even growth over nearly 10 years of operation. Primary among these assets was power generating solar power. There was always the option to use multiple fossil fuel burning generators, but the supply to fuel and the variable cost of transporting and buying the fuel propelled Carl to go green purely because is makes better business sense.

Life Off-Grid

There are no electric lines supplying electricity to Carl’s dive resort. In order to run the lights, the chargers, the hot water and other necessary comforts for a resort – all of the power needs to be generated right there. To Carl’s advantage, living in the tropics means plenty of sunshine. Enough in fact to power the resort by clever use of solar power.

Solar power is not expensive either. It is actually much more affordable than fossil fuel if judged on an even playing field. In the graph below from Lazard (an asset management and financial advisor firm) one can see it is nearly half the cost of generating power from coal and less than 40% verses gas.

Carl installed solar panels on the lodge’s roof back in 2016. These were of the 400 watt model. Batteries, panels and wiring and so forth were all needed to make it work, but it is simple enough that companies like Renogy actively sell units for regular consumers to start living on their own solar power grid. Those setup costs and the technology of the solar panels themselves continues to bring down those costs as well. Where back in 2010 the prospect of building a solar array for making electricity could have been out of reach, the costs today would present a very different picture.

This decrease in costs is mostly a result of the technological advances being made in capturing the Sun’s power. Where back in 2015 commercial panels would generally reach that 15 -17% efficiency rate, now top commercial panels can offer 22 – 23% efficiency. Science and industry are currently racing to capture the remaining power that the sun is providing and they still have some ways to go.

Applications for Logistics Managers

If you are operating a warehouse or building where solar power is not yet in place, it may be time to look at adding energy creating systems that can replace your fossil fuel generated power. These are assets that can bring savings to your running costs and at the same time reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well.

Additionally, there are even solar systems that fit onto vehicles. These truck solar systems are especially useful for vehicles that need power outside of running the truck motor. Refrigeration is one of the more obvious user cases, but so are lift backs or other ancillary systems.

I have written about this in LogiSYM Magazine April 2023, “Catching the Sun Light!” (https://magazine.logisym.org/the-green-corridor-catching-the-sun-light-how-logistics-is-harnessing-the-power-of-the-sun/). Please look into the archive to take a look. In that article I provide some real examples and programs that are available to logistics managers in the region.

Solar power is our future and people are getting more and more adept at installing it for different user cases. So please look for something to inspire you. A trip to Fiji, or perhaps somewhere closer to home.