Tokelau Drops Diesel To Become The First Solar-Powered Place On Earth

Home to 1,400 people over an area of 10km2, Tokelau is soon going to be the first place on Earth which entirely depends on solar energy for its power. Tokelau, an island located near New Zealand, along with two other atolls in the South Pacific dependency, are expected to have their own solar power systems by October, this year.

#-Link-Snipped-#

Once the project, lead by Powersmart Solar, is completed, Tokelau will become the first country to be fully-powered by solar energy, only needing fossil fuels to power its three cars. These atolls, which are currently dependent on diesel for their power needs, run the risk and environmental costs of unloading diesel drums. As a measure to these issues along with keeping a check on expected future costs of electricity, solar power generators were introduced as an alternative source of power across the Pacific.

The island has access to electricity for between 15-18 hours a day, which was previously provided by diesel generators, burning almost  200 litres of fuel daily. Soon, those generators will be replaced with 4032 solar panels, 392 inverters and 1344 batteries covering almost 150% of Tokelau’s power needs, without any increase in the diesel demand.

The system is built to withstand cyclone forces of about 230km/h.  The first solar system on the atoll of Fakaofo, a part of Tokelau, is expected to be switched on within this month.

Source: Tokelau to shed diesel dependence | Stuff.co.nz Image Credit: #-Link-Snipped-#

Replies

You are reading an archived discussion.

Related Posts

eBay has launched beta version of its iOS app called 'eBay Now' which allows you to receive the order from local stores on the same day. People in San Francisco...
Microsoft is now working to minimize piracy of Windows 8. With all the previous scenarios and a Windows 8 leak last week, change in the activation policy is just the...
Project Hexapod, a team of 3 instructors, 1 TA and 15 students from Massachusetts is building a 18 foot wide, 4000 pound, 6 legged, engine powered hydraulic walking robot, and...
The image below brings a smile not only to the people at NASA but to the entire world. The whole world had sets their sight on Curiosity that made the...
The budget tablet market in India is going to get even more crowded as Lava announces the launch of its 7 inch Android tablet named E-Tab Z7H. This Android 4.0...