A BETTER LIFE ! ISSUE 3 | Page 7

5 ISSUE № 3, APR 2017 Telsa Powers a Whole Island Elon Musk led Tesla recently celebrated a major solar energy project: wiring up the whole island of Ta’u in American Samoa. Previously, the island ran on diesel generators, which were consuming over 100,000 gallons of diesel per year. Telsa’s solution was the installation of a microgrid of so- lar energy panels and batteries that will target to supply "nearly 100 percent" of power needs for Ta’u’s 600 residents. Telsa saw this move as necessary to push on his master plan to integrate clean energy generation and storage. Savings were also evident by not having to transport such quantities of die- sel into the small island. The microgrid will allow the island to stay fully powered for three days without sunlight, and its ca- pacity will recharge fully in seven hours. This speaks to reduction in the carbon footprint and “the setting of a good e