Tesla solar panels and storage will help Hawaiian island go fossil-free

Tesla is going big with their utility-scale Powerpacks. The electric car titan has officially launched a 55,000-panel solar farm on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, and all that energy needs to be saved in some big ol’ batteries. That’s where the company’s giant lithium batteries come in. Tesla has installed 272 of their new and improved Powerpacks, capable of storing a combined 52 megawatt-hours of power.

The new facility means that the island can cut its diesel and petroleum consumption by an estimated 1.6 million gallons a year. Some 44 percent of Kauai’s energy will now come from renewable sources—and it’s the first instance where a solar operation will be able to reliably supply power 24/7. It’s all a part of the island’s plan to become fossil-fuel free by 2045.

Kauai’s setup is similar to the 396-battery storage system Tesla installed in Southern California earlier this year. Tesla founder Elon Musk has said that building another 160 or so of these facilities could power the entire United States.

Via: Designboom, Bloomberg