I came across this brilliant video from Tesla and SolarCity this week. Elon Musk really does put his money where his mouth is.
They have proved their capacity for widespread deployment of solar energy by using the American Samoan island of Ta'u as a case study. In the past, Ta'u was dependent on diesel generators for power. However, 5328 solar panels have been built alongside 6 megawatt hours of storage from 60 Tesla powerpacks. Now, the whole island can remain powered for 3 full days without sun.
This is significant. For a long time, the barrier to progress of harnessing solar energy was not only cost of production and implementation, but the ability to effectively store the energy for future use. This means that solar energy is also a viable option as part of the energy mix for those with limited sunlight hours.
Next up on the blog: an insight into these two merger companies from Elon Musk and their capacity for paving the way towards a fossil-free future.
This is good news. Considering that Ta'u is an island, would there be potential to make 100 percent of its energy come from renewable sources, perhaps using the solar panels in combination with wind turbines?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! It only has a population of 790 (2010) so it is likely that the island's domestic energy use can be easily accounted for with smaller-scale renewable projects, including wind.
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