Parker Ranch

Ranching the Sun

Always mindful of the important history of Parker Ranch and the ranch’s impact on the tight knit community of Waimea, the Ranch seeks always to be a good neighbor. Projects such as “Ranching the Sun” help ensure a viable future for the ranch, for Waimea and for our island home.

In August 1999, Parker Ranch and PowerLight Corporation teamed up to develop what was, at the time, the world’s largest hybrid solar energy project. It uses state of the art technology to convert available renewable energy resources – sun and wind – into electricity to supply water to livestock. Using natural resources reduces the amount of energy required from fossil fuel utility stations, thus saving the environment while reducing Parker Ranch utility costs. The project is located on the Big Island of Hawaii near the 6-mile marker on Mamalahoa Highway, within Parker Ranch pastureland near Saddle Road.

Solar Array and Windmills

The project, consisting of 175 kW of photovoltaic and 50 kW of windplant technology, generates more than 90 percent of the daytime electrical power needed to provide drinking water for Parker Ranch’s livestock in the Mauna Kea, Mana and Keamuku grazing areas. It is controlled by a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. The SCADA system provides the intelligence to maximize the efficiency of the hybrid system by matching electrical load to available solar energy. During any given day, the combination of sun and wind provide enough energy to run all the booster pumps in the water system that goes 7000 feet up the side of the mountain of Mauna Kea. Money saved from reduced utility bills more than covers the amortized cost of the solar energy water pumping system.

Over the life of the project, the environment will be saved from the effects of burning 30,000 barrels of oil and emitting 20,000 tons of C02. It is equivalent to providing energy for more than 1,000 homes.