Quaker Manor and Estates

The Coastal Housing Corporation selected Northeast Engineers to assist with their modernization program for the Quaker Manor and Quaker Estates complex. The complex consists of 58 elderly housing units. The program focused on energy management and conservation, and included a study of the possibility of generating wind and solar power on-site.

NE&C initially completed a Site Suitability Assessment to evaluate the feasibility of installing a wind turbine or solar panels at the complex. After considering preliminary energy maps, site conditions, regulatory requirements, and power demand NE&C concluded that the project was generally feasible. NE&C then worked with the Corporation to obtain a $34,500 grant from the Rhode Island Renewable Energy Fund to conduct a Renewable Energy Assessment.

The Renewable Energy Assessment included the installation of a meteorological tower that was monitored for a 12 month period. Wind speed, direction, and temperature data was collected and frequently monitored. To ensure that only high quality data was used in the analysis, NE&C created a proprietary data validation database. The database included nineteen range, relational, and trend filters used to flag suspect data.

After one year of data collection, the potential long term wind and solar energy production was estimated. A financial evaluation, including predicted annual and long term fluctuations was completed. The information was used by the Corporation to plan their renewable energy strategy.

Services Provided

• Fatal Flaw Study
• Met Tower installation and monitoring
• Wind Resource Assessment
• Solar Resource Assessment
• Grant writing support