Tesla made a remarkable breakthrough after powering an entire island. It was mentioned that the innovative company managed to provide solar power to an entire island.
The island of Ta'u which is located in American Samoa went through tough times as the island still doesn't have an electricity. The residents of the island mentioned that they used to rely on diesel for their electricity, which means that some of the villagers would have to go to neighboring islands for them to be able to but the needed diesel. Keith Ahsoon, a resident of Ta'u stated that they would only have access to electricity in the morning and in the afternoon as they would have to save up on fuel according to The Verge.
The water from the entire island is also derived from pumps, which is also fueled by diesel. During his interview, Ahsoon mentioned that their island didn't progress much as they still lack electricity, which is a basic necessity even if it's already 2016.
"I recall a time they weren't able to get the boat out here for two months," said Keith Ahsoon, a local resident whose family owns one of the food stores on the island. "We rely on that boat for everything, including importing diesel for the generators for all of our electricity. Once diesel gets low, we try to save it by using it only for mornings and afternoons. Water systems here also use pumps, everyone in the village uses and depends on that. It's hard to live not knowing what's going to happen. I remember growing up using candlelight. And now, in 2016, we were still experiencing the same problems."
According to Forbes, Tesla came up with 1.4 megawatts of solar generation capacity from Solar City and Tesla and 6-megawatt hours of battery storage from 60 Tesla Power packs - was implemented within just one year from start to finish. The solar panel definitely changed the lives of the residents in a way that it helps save the environment as well. Tesla's move to put up solar panels to light up the entire island is considered as something historic as it helped lessen the carbon footprints as well.
