Lighting and Power Upgrade Recommendations for U.S. National Park Service Caribbean Units
The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) maintains and operates numerous park units along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, extending into the Caribbean to Commonwealth territories like Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). Several of these units were in the direct path of hurricanes Irma and Maria during the 2017 hurricane season and suffered considerable damage, including power outages, structural damage, and destroyed equipment. In February 2018, a task force deployed to three locations in the Caribbean to assess hurricane damage to the existing lighting systems and energy infrastructure. The primary objective was providing related recommendations for resiliency upgrades to the lighting and electrical supply systems, with special added emphasis on the numerous goals, objectives, and requirements of the NPS (such as protecting night skies, wildlife, wilderness character, cultural resources, etc.). Numerous opportunities exist for simultaneously increasing resiliency and preserving natural environments within these sensitive locations, and technological approaches that work in the extreme conditions encountered here should readily translate to many other less complex sites across the greater park system. Ultimately, care and attention to detail in implementation are the most important underlying requirements for success across the myriad needs likely encountered at these sites, once commitment to resolving them has been secured.