Tesla, SolarCity power up a whole island with just solar energy

Recently completing its US$2.6 billion acquisition of SolarCity Corporation, the largest American provider of solar energy services, American automaker and energy storage company Tesla has also announced the completion of a major solar energy project: powering up the whole island of Ta’u in American Samoa.

The island, located more than 4,000 miles from the West Coast of the US, previously ran on diesel generators.

Over the past year, Tesla has installed a microgrid of solar energy panels and batteries that will supply “nearly 100%” of the power needs of Ta’u’s 600 residents. The island’s microgridis comprised of 5,328 solar panels with 1.4 megawatts (MW) of solar generation capacity, along with 60 Tesla Power packs that offer 6 megawatt hours (Mwh) of batter storage.

Even though the acquisition seems to be risky move for the automaker, Tesla CEO Elon Musk describes the acquisition as “blindingly obvious” — a necessary step in his so-called “Master Plan” to integrate clean energy generation and storage.

Funded by the American Samoa Economic Development Authority, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Interior, the project will offset the island’s use of more than 109,500 gallons of diesel per year, as well as the expense of shipping that fuel in.

The microgrid will allow the island to stay fully powered for three days without sunlight, and its capacity will recharge fully in seven hours.