The Coastal Systems Station (COASTSYSTA) designed, installed, and started up on 20 January 1990, a state-of-the-art stand-alone photovoltaic powered impressed current cathodic protection system (PVCPSYS) not requiring any backup power for steel and iron submerged structures. The PVCPSYS, installed on a 775-foot steel sheet piling of a Navy dock bulkhead, provides complete, continuous corrosion protection. The PVCPSYS has been in operation for more than five years, has not required any repair or maintenance, and is environmentally clean. Initial cost savings of the PVCPSYS versus conventional cathodic protection system was $46,000. A second PVCPSYS was installed on another 800-foot bulkhead on 21 Hay 1993. It is also providing complete corrosion protection without backup power. Performance is well documented. Other potential applications are moth-balled ships, locks, dams, bridges, pipelines, and similar structures. These systems are considered a major advance by Sandia and the Department of Defense (DOD) Photovoltaic Review Committee. An ultra-capacitor, a recent hi-tech development that is environmentally clean, will be incorporated in the PVCPSYS when required to enhance the system's capability. A photovoltaic/ultracapacitor (or equivalent) combined power source operating under adverse conditions, and/or to satisfy or meet regulations will assure cathodic protection, including pipelines carrying combustibles or other products that could otherwise create environmental problems. Patents are pending on this PVCPSYS and the photovoltaic/ ultracapacitor powered systems.
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