Slashdot Mirror
Tokelau Becomes First Country To Go 100% Solar
First time accepted submitter zonky writes "Tokelau has become the first country in the world to go 100% solar power generation, moving away from their entirely diesel power supply, which formerly supplied the energy needs of the 1400 residents of their small south pacific Island Nation. From the article: 'All three atolls in the South Pacific dependency, a New Zealand territory, will have their own solar power system by the end of October, despite a slight delay switching on the first system.'"
It is amazing that the USA is NOT investing more into getting Hawaii moved onto AE for energy and tesla is not pushing their car there.
The reason why is because right now, nearly ALL of Hawaii's energy is from oil.
Tesla could jump the production line to an easy 30K or even 40K for the model S and would still sell 100% of those cars on Hawaii.
Oddly, Hawaii is setting up free electrical charging posts.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
What do they do then?
that they are a pacific island with a population of 1400.
Not that far from saying something like Sealand is the first nation to adopt bitcoin as a national currency, which I am sure they would if they thought they could profit off it.
Great Intellect...
Sadly Tokelau will be the first nation to go under the waves when the waters rise. I've met a few Tokelauans and they are uniformly terrific people. Their culture will pretty much vanish when migrate to New Zealand.and their kids become Kiwis (New Zelanders - the fruit is named after the people who are named after the bird).
I said - don't look Ethel!..., but it was too late..., she'd already looked.
HOLY CRAP A COUNTRY OF 1400 PEOPLE SWITCHED COMPLETELY TO SOLAR POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!111one!11!!!!
Is this supposed to be news? This is like putting up an article because the high-rise apartment building down the street went 100% solar.
Only in the loosest sense of the work is this a country !
Even "Island Nation" is a bit of stretch
Falls in the same category as Guam and American Somoa so it understandable - but it also falls in the same category as Falkland Islands which is a better comparison when pondering if this a country, nation or just an dependant island territory.
Well PV actually is quite cost effective against the carbon alternatives in this case. Not only is the country small making this project quite easy, but it's in the middle of nowhere so shipping costs for carbon based energy sources were equal to the cost of energy itself. One article mentioned that they were spending $800000 on shipping $1m worth of diesel every year.
I can see how solar PV could pay for itself quite quickly in this case.
Hang on a second!
Why are they doing something that wont pay off for the long term, when in the long term they're gonna be innundated or sink. Either way, AGW will claim the land?
Except Tokelau is not a country.
Oops.
Great fact checking, editors.
A whole 1400 people?
On a tropical island with way more sunshine than many more temperate areas?
See: Log, falling off of.
Seriously, I understand that it's a first. It's a step forward for possibly more similar places to switch. But let's be real here, supplying just 1400 people on a tropical island isn't exactly breaking any major technical barriers or pushing the envelope of scalability.
The tech to accomplish what they did has been around for at least a couple of decades, and likely became affordable/economical at least ten years ago or more at that small a scale and under those near-perfect conditions for a solar power installation. They'll still need some emergency diesel generators however for the inevitable hurricane/typhoon damage/outages.
Again, I think it's an admirable accomplishment and I salute them for it. It's a decision that makes sense all around for them and their limited needs, considering their abundance of sunshine resulting from location, and it's a "first" that will go into the history books.
Tropical flowers of all kinds smell better without the odor of diesel floating on the gentle tropical breeze. ;-)
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
From the article:
Tokelau has a population of about 1400 and they have access to electricity for between 15-18 hours a day.
Somehow I don't think the average American will to agree to not having 24 hour a day access to electricity.
AC won over DC because it simplified long distance transmission using step-up and step-down transformers. A strictly local solar power plant does not need the expense and complexity of DC to AC inverters. A much cheaper, reliable, and efficient system could be designed as totaly DC.
I am not pro- or anti-solar power, but this is precisely the kind of meaningless 'achievement' that is trumpeted by the media and publicity seekers and will be used to push public opinion in favour of solar energy use and subsidies. What precisely is the point of a town sized nation going all solar? How can it be all solar? They don't use electricity at night? Actually they use a large bank of wonderful expensive polluting short lived rechargaeable batteries to store enough energy for the whole island for the night on cloudy days. They replaced their generator that used just 200 litres of fuel per day (a single truck can use that much) with this pointless and expensive project? I presume they have to import oil, but they can buy and stockpile a hell of a lot of diesel for the money they spent on this project. There is no way they have the expertise or raw material to make batteries or solar panels. So the self reliance theory goes out of the window - if they used wind or tidal energy that might have had some credence. What did the world gain from it? The equivalent of one less diesel truck on the roads, while spending enough money on solar cells and inverters and batteries to keep that truck running for decades. Does it help greenhouse emissions? No. Does it make the island self reliant? No.
Is it a technology that can ever be viable to supply energy to the 3 billion or so people in india and china and the billion or so Africa will have at the current rate? Hell no.
It's just a pointless vanity project for some big politician or UN do gooder or attention seeking billiionaire or an advertising project for some large corporation. I can't be bothered finding out which.
Somehow I don't think the average American will to agree to not having 24 hour a day access to electricity.
The average American isn't awake 24 hours a day, so how would they know ... well until they open the fridge the next morning and find that all the food is warm.
Solar panels on deserts are still a mirage in this modern age
It's a territory of NZ.
And it's apparently not at all on solar yet, the first system turns on in two weeks, the last in October.
I'm not even going to grouse about the 3 cars that run on fossil fuel, because that's peanuts next to the fact that the country won't even have power 24 hours a day (article says 12-18h).
This article is just plain wrong.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
First, does Tokelau actually produce enough of anything to /pay/ for the solar infrastructure? I didn't think so.
Second, IT'S NOT A COUNTRY! FIVE SECONDS TO CHECK THAT ON WIKIPEDIA SAMZENPUS.
Way to go /. for hiring him. The only way to do worse is not firing him for this.
What about Hawaii's "old" NELHA 220 kW Ocean Thermal Energy conversion plant off the Kona coast ?
OTEC solutions are apparently still alive in Hawaii, as a project and funding for building another more powerful OTEC plant off Maui's coast was awarded in 2010 to Lockheed Martin, and NELHA is aiming to build a second plant by 2014.
Maybe we deserve this world ?
OK, so right now they're going through about a barrel of Diesel every day for the whole island. That's really not too bad.
Now, just the batteries in the new system, keeping in mind that there's 1344 of them, and I'm being really generous here, let's assume that they each last 10 years. In other words, every 10 years the entire battery array needs to be replaced. That's a pretty impressive lifetime for SLA batteries, and even more so for wet cells, which are quite a bit cheaper and can be massive, but it's reasonable to assume that they're using mainstream technology, and that means SLA cells.
So, spread out evenly, that's one battery every 3 days (give or take a few hours) over 10 years. Of course, in the real world, you'll replace one prematurely failing cell every month or so, and then do an evaluation every year or so, maybe swap out half a dozen cells. Most of the cells will do just fine for their entire lifetime, but when that is up (again, assuming 10 years), you need to replace the cell regardless. After all, even slight differences in voltage in an array like that can cause a cell to murder it's neighbors, and you don't want that.
So, what's worse? 3 barrels of Diesel, or a 60-pound or so chunk of lead and plastic?
It's probably a wash, cost-wise, although they will be getting 24H power, which is always nice, and no noise. However, keep in mind that Diesel generators are 100+ year old technology, and as such things go, are pretty bulletproof and low maintenance. Solar gear will take more of a beating, PV cells will also get damaged, fail, and wear out, and they're not cheap.
I'm sure that they've sat down and done the math and decided that it's a good net investment, but it's definitely not ZOMG FREE ENERGY !!!!1!!ONE!
The news isn't that it's a country - which it's not - but that an entire island, cut off from mainland grid, is able to use solar power as its only means of generating electric power. This makes it very interesting, and I would like to know a lot more about what their grid looks like, how they handle peaks and lows in solar output (like day and night), and so on.
I think last year I had to hose off some bird poop once. And nobody I know has had an inverter fail. I would just mod you down, but I'd like to call attention to the fact that solidraven is full of bird poop.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
Early in the article they claim to be replacing the generators, but further down they say: "The solar power systems will be capable of providing 150 per cent of the annual electricity demand without increasing diesel demand." That tells me they intend to still use the generators and the solar will augment them to reduce fossil fuel usage. Meh. Sounds to me like the article is just marketing hype. Nothing extraordinary happening.
I think the most significant aspect of this is the fact that it frees Tokelau of a dependence on an external resource.
There is no airport or airstrip in Tokelau, nor are there any docks. 2 or 3 boats a month visit the islands, usually departing from Apia in Samoa. Upon arrival in the islands, passengers and cargo are offloaded on to smaller vessels before being taken ashore. As the article mentions tropical storms are a real concern in this part of the Pacific (not to mention tsunami) and shipping can be disrupted because of these natural disasters and for other reasons (mechanical failure, search and rescue obligations, medical evacuations). The difficulty, expense and reliability of supply are no longer matters that need to be considered.
What I don't understand (and this could be due to my complete ignorance regarding the workings of diesel engines) is why they still need to ship in fuel for the cars. The tropical islands of the Pacific do not want for coconut trees and the extraction of coconut oil is a straightforward process with not too much capital investment required. Surely it should be possible to use it as a replacement for diesel or at least convert it into biodiesel, unless of course the cars have petrol engines.
The preceding line was intentionally left blank.
You're just jealous that your country isn't the first to move to 100% solar an making up a sad excuse. If they had 30% of the worlds oil reserve and stopped exporting because they wanted to promote solar power, it wouln't take more than three minutes for the USA to come up with an excuse to declare war on them, as a country.
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
I'm always shocked at the venom aimed at solar and wind power on Slashdot. I can't think something much geekier or high tech than solar cells. I constantly see posts about how wildly impractical they are and how they create more CO2 than coal power with no facts to back any of it up. The fact is, and yes I have run the numbers, without government subsidies the payback is no more than 5 to 7 years and depending on location and power needs it can be less. With subsidies depending on the area it's usually 3 to 5 years for payback. Considering bank interest is at best a couple of percent it's a staggering return on your investment considering they'll likely power your house for 30 years, 25 to 35 depending on how much excess capacity you initially install. They will continue to produce usable power for another 15 to 25 years. I've never seen evidence suggesting that enough solar cells to power your house releases more CO2 to make than 30 years of coal based electricity. If there's actual data I'd love to see it! As to wind power contributing as much as coal fire I can firmly call bullshit on that one since I can assemble a windmill out of scrap parts and an alternator out of a junk car. The technology isn't that different than a portion of what runs your car so there's simply no way a wind mill large enough to power a home takes more CO2 to produce than a car. Also once it's set up it contributes no CO2. Localized solar cells require no infrastructure saving a massive amount of resources needed to support power line and substations. Also substations use large amounts of PCBs, a very bad thing to have laying around. The argument always descends into a "nuclear good" "solar bad". Ignoring all the problems we've had with nuclear and I'm not talking about just Russia and Japan, we have our own places like Hanford. Even under the most ideal situation with flawless performance nuclear needs a massive distribution network. Also as much of the east coast found out this summer when it goes down vast areas are screwed. Guess what happens when your neighbors solar cells stop working? You still have AC like the rest of the neighborhood with solar cells. No one is suggesting we dump all other forms of energy and focus on solar although I've heard people try to claim we should drop everything in favor of nuclear. The flaw in that plan being without a massive infrastructure of breeders and reprocessing plants that don't exist we run out of fuel for the reactors in something like 40 years if we switched over entirely. Let's drop the my teams better than your team approach to solving the energy crisis and use what works best in each situation. Lets give them credit for what they are doing switching to a sustainable solution that works for them. I noticed multiple well modded posts saying what they did doesn't count. Personally I think it counts for a lot. They are leading by example and the least we can do is not whine about it!
Why not more wind power with the solar...
An island seems like a good place for wind turbines. Don't care for the noise/look of them? Use the horizontal ones. those you can hide almost anywhere and work pretty quiet too.
Why not tidal power too. surrounded by ocean seems like a good place for that....
Either way its nice to see someone finally wise up and change their energy systems for the better. Even if its some island in the middle of nowhere.
It's a start. And that really is more than the rest of the world has managed to do .
Hail, hail Tokelau, a land I didn't make up!
(1.21 gigawatts) / (88 miles per hour) = 30 757 874 newtons
Coal doesn't react well to load changes and so you have "cheap" nighttime electric.
And, now, Wind costs less than Oil and onshore very close to Coal.
Just because you use the words "still cheaper" doesn't make it so.
S/He needs the visibility !
Maybe we deserve this world ?
That's my feeling. We slaves aren't allowed self sufficiency from our masters as we might be around a bit longer. Out overmasters don't have to be too concerned with little Tokelau as you say, under water sooner than later I think. That coupled with the fact that NZ is one of the least corrupt countries on the planet least in many studies, with highest quality of life for cities - Auckland and Wellington are up there, vastly ahead of all US cities. It's no surprise the US would be having a nosy in NZ bit torrent affairs etc. to spread their corruption to that land.
there's a certain segment of society that listens to faux news and reads the drudge report and faithfully accepts the propaganda from the oligopolies who want to retain their rent-seeking parasite status on our societies. why these people's minds are so beholden to the corporate propaganda and the well-paid demagogues is beyond my understanding. some people retain open minds, other minds close up and never think critically again, and are forever more enthralled to the propaganda channels that, for some reason, they dutifully accept without any resistance. it's a strange world
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Mary Ann: Oh Professor! It is sooooo hot here. (rubs her hands down her sweat soaked skin) I think we need to go swimming just the two of us.
Professor: I think it is very encouraging how all 7 of us can have these modern conveniences with some coconuts and bamboo creatively assembled. Don’t you?
Mary Ann: Oh yes professor! Tell me more more... I’m soooo hot. (begins to slowly slowly mind you remove articles of clothing)
Professor: If I could only figure out a way to harness solar energy, that is, energy given off by the sun, in mass quantities, we might someday have refrigeration and air conditioning. Just think Mary Ann! You need not be sweaty ever again, and some day that technology could be used to power entire islands of people (no more than 1500 mind you) and give them energy independence. Wouldn’t that be incredible?
Mary Ann: Professor, you talk too much about clean energy. Let me show you what dirty energy really looks like!
(end scene with dissolve and theme music)
I'm not sure if the size of population matters - with more population, you have more money. So the question is, how does the economics of the system scale on a per-capita basis?
If it's affordable on a per-capita basis for 1400 people, why not 140 million people?
It's an interesting experiment at a small scale which will help answer either if solar is viable (technically and financially) at a smaller scale, or not.
I would point out that I doubt that this tiny pacific island has much in the way of heavy industry, however. I think wind and solar could potentially (if they get cheap enough), become a larger portion of the U.S. and other developed nations economies (perhaps something like 40-50% of total generation. I don't think for an industrialized nation, it can become 100% of the power grid - industry uses just too much power.
Also - I wonder how much air conditioning is used on that island? I imagine that, since historically their electric has been expensive, they probably largely haven't depended a lot on A/C? I also wonder what the weather is like there? South Pacific, I believe, is pretty much warm year 'round - but does it ever really get stiflingly hot like it does in places on the mainland (in Ohio, where I live, and surrounding states, back at the end of June and beginning of July, we had 2 or 3 weeks of 100+ degree days).
Finally we're on the road to being huddled around the very last solar panel in a freezing cave, wailing "If we could only figure out how to get enough energy out of it to make another one, this would be the best technology ever invented. Ethics shall triumph over physics, just have faith."
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
I read that as "Tokelau Becomes First Country To Go 100% Sober" - I'm not even a drinker and even I shuddered at how horrible it sounded!
Ignoring that solar energy comes from outside, it's a small closed system.
Many islands and entire continents are, or at one time were, closed systems from an energy perspective if you ignore wind and solar being inherently "from outside."
Again, if you ignore that solar is "from outside," the Planet Earth is a "closed system" as well.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
FWIW, Tokelau is on the US Department of State's list of "Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty", as well as the United Nations' list of "Non-Self-Governing Territories", the latter because it is considered to be a colony of New Zealand.
1. Tokelau is not a country, it's a group of 3 atolls.
2. It's 10 km^2 in size with a population of 1400.
3. Must be slow news day.
"You must try to forget all you have learned. You must begin to dream." -- Sherwood Anderson