On the new SolarCity and Tesla news update, the united companies have realized the dream to have a fully sustaining solar-powered island. In just one year, the small island of Ta'u in American Samoa was able to solve its power problems.
SolarCity has managed to fix the small island's major reliance on diesel generators with the use of the company's power generation output. Tesla meanwhile contributed to the cause by using its powerpack-based storage.
In the SolarCity and Tesla news update, it is mentioned that most island communities depend on fossil fuel to power up their electrical grid. According to Tech Crunch, the use of fossil fuels has a huge cost due to shipment fees that covers a great distance.
Financially speaking, most of the island's budget will dry up quickly because of shipping and constant burning of fuel to harness energy for everyday use. SolarCity has a way of gaining back the energy cost through a period of time especially when solar power is abundant.
The island of Ta'u has been using diesel energy for a long time with plenty of generators along the 17-square mile volcanic plateau as stated in the SolarCity and Tesla news update. On a report posted on the Auto Blog site, SolarCity and Tesla tackled the logistical problems to build a microgrid for the 600 residents of the island.
Elon musk is the Super Villain we need, not the one we deserve: https://t.co/1wrAZQL47q
— Will Long (@DerailedLogic) November 22, 2016
Tesla provided 60 powerpacks that can produce six megawatt hours in battery storage, while SolarCity gave 5,328 solar panels which generate 1.4 megawatts of electricity. The establishment of both SolarCity and Tesla power grid and overall infrastructure all took place within a year.
SolarCity mentioned that the entire project was funded by the American Samoa Economic Development Authority along with the Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency. With the added help of the Tesla powerpacks, the energy on the island of Ta'u is now available 24/7 without fear of power outages.
As stated on CNBC, Elon Musk's electric car company Tesla Motors Inc. has recently finished the $2 billion stock acquisition of SolarCity Corporation. The bid has the agenda of creating a one of a kind company that will sell solar power units and electric cars side by side.
Currently, the SolarCity stock price has taken a dive and the entire deal is worth less than the $2.6 billion value it had last August. Elon Musk is the owner of 22 percent of SolarCity and the company has already lost $758.7 million in the 3rd quarter of 2016.
