The island of Ta’u in American Samoa, located more than 4,000 miles from
the West Coast of the United States, now hosts a solar power and
battery storage-enabled microgrid that can supply nearly 100 percent of
the island’s power needs from renewable energy. This provides a
cost-saving alternative to diesel, removing the hazards of power
intermittency and making outages a thing of the past. Learn more here: http://blog.solarcity.com/island-in-the-sun/
There are challenges to living on a remote island – from food
scarcity to destructive weather – and the lack of affordable, reliable
power is among the greatest. The island of
Ta’u in American Samoa, located more than 4,000 miles from the West
Coast of the United States, is no stranger to power rationing and
outages.
“I recall a time they weren’t able to get the boat out
here for two months,” said Keith Ahsoon, a local resident whose family
owns one of the food stores on the island. “We rely on that boat for
everything, including importing diesel for the generators for all of our
electricity. Once diesel gets low, we try to save it by using it only
for mornings and afternoons. Water systems here also use pumps, everyone
in the village uses and depends on that. It’s hard to live not knowing
what’s going to happen. I remember growing up using candlelight. And
now, in 2016, we were still experiencing the same problems.”
The
situation is changing. Ta’u now hosts a solar power and battery
storage-enabled microgrid that can supply nearly 100 percent of the
island’s power needs from renewable energy, providing a cost-saving
alternative to diesel, removing the hazards of power intermittency and
making outages a thing of the past.