Elon Musk's Tesla Powers An Entire Ta'u Island In American Samoa Following SolarCity Acquisition With Tesla Power Panels & Powerpacks

By Rita Mendoza - 23 Nov '16 18:15PM

Tesla has powered up an island in South Pacific bringing stable power supply to the entire Ta'u thanks to its solar panels and power packs.

Since acquiring SolarCity, Tesla is now flexing its solar powered muscles as it launches solar generating microgrid at the island of Ta'u located in American Samoa. Being 4,000 miles far from the West Coast, the island of Ta'u is used to power outages and insufficient rationing.

Tesla announced that the island of Ta'u in American Samoa will be running on solar energy microgrid. The microgrid power is 1.4 megawatts which cover almost all of the electric needs in the island. Tesla not only added a total of 5,328 solar panels, but the company also placed 60 Tesla Powerpacks powering 6 megawatt-hours' worth of energy storage.

A typical day on the island of Ta'u is so sunny that the solar panels and power packs can run for about three days without the sun. So, the islanders need not worry about power outages during cloudy weathers.

It took a year for Tesla to complete the solar switch in Ta'u. The island is no stranger to relying on generators to produce electricity and boats to import fuel. In fact, they previously used generators consuming about 300 gallons daily, which is not only expensive but eco-hazard as well.

With Tesla powerpack and solar panels, the island of Ta'u can be free from pollution and will be able to save on fuel. More importantly, these will provide a reliable source of energy that the island can run on.

The new power grid in Ta'u comes following the approval of Tesla shareholders of Elon Musk's plans of merging Tesla with SolarCity for the cost of $2.6 billion, with the founder owning 22 percent of each.

The island of Ta'u is home to less than 600 residents and has modest power needs. But, the climate on the island is perfect for Tesla solar panels. With enough battery storage thanks to Tesla powerpack, the company led by Elon Musk is a step closer to weaning off the world from the use of fuel, a goal that continues to be a major concern worldwide.