Background: As a result of the recommendations of the Senior Review Panel report to significantly reduce the NSF’s Division of Astronomical Sciences funding for the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) which operates the Arecibo Observatory (Fig. 1) in Puerto Rico, Cornell University (CU) was granted a supplement to its Cooperative Agreement with the NSF for the Management and Operations of NAIC to establish a Partnership Office (PO) at the Arecibo Observatory (AO). The purpose was to pursue partnerships, potential funding sources and recurrent operational savings opportunities to sustain the Observatory’s operations. To achieve its goals, the Partnership Office sought to identify any research or other opportunities that would result in either savings in the Observatory’s annual operating budget or provide the Observatory with additional revenue streams. Two major initiatives were undertaken; 1) An effort to interest the Puerto Rican government and its relevant agencies in providing support for the Observatory as a major research center on the Island and a significant employer in the Arecibo area. As part of this effort, a sub-contract was let to Universidad Metropolitana (UMet), a unit of the Ana G. Mendez University System in Puerto Rico, to conduct a study investigating possible additional sources of revenue, primarily in Puerto Rico; 2) A project to significantly reduce AO’s electricity usage and power costs by replacing its current incandescent lights with high efficiency Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights. NAIC and AO administrators held numerous meetings with the central government in Puerto Rico and with several agency heads to investigate possible means by which local government could support the Observatory. The Puerto Rican legislature did provide $3M for infrastructure improvements at the Observatory (Fig. 2a,b) and a contract was negotiated with the Department of Education for joint educational activities centered on the Observatory’s Angel Ramos Foundation Visitor Center. The Angel Ramos Foundation also committed to $750k in new funding for a planned expansion of the Visitor Center. UMet delivered their Business Plan on June 15, 2009 that outlined ideas for additional initiatives to raise funds. However, in November 2008 the NSF announced its intention to compete the management of NAIC. Much of the fund raising activity was put on hold due to uncertainties related to the future management of AO. With NSF permission, residual funds in the Partnership award were devoted to reducing Observatory operational costs through replacement of its incandescent lights with much more efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights. Fluorescent and commercially available LED lights are four to five times more efficient than incandescent lights but emit radio frequency interference (RFI) that significantly affects the operation of the 305-m telescope. However, an energy audit showed that almost $40,000 per year could be saved by changing to LED lights. A contract was let to Spectral Labs, Inc. (SLI) of San Diego to design a RFI free LED light fixture. This turned out to be very successful and SLI was contracted to manufacture 150 fully certified LED light fixtures for the Observatory (Figure 3a,b). These were received on September 13, 2012 and will be installed. While only about 25% of the over 600 light fixtures at the Observatory, installation in the most used buildings will bring significant savings. The development of the RFI free LED lights will greatly benefit the Arecibo Observatory but they also have potential applications where RFI is a problem. They also resolve the looming issue that incandescent lights are being phased out.
