American Samoa’s Solar+Storage Microgrid

The island of Ta’u in the U.S. territory of American Samoa relied heavily on diesel generation to meet its electricity needs until a solar+storage microgrid was installed in 2016. Now, instead of burning through 300 gallons of imported diesel fuel every day, the island’s homes and businesses are almost entirely powered by solar+storage. The 1.4-megawatt PV and 6-megawatt-hour storage system developed by SolarCity can power the entire island for 3 days without sunlight and fully recharge in seven hours, ending the threat of fuel shortages, power rationing, and outages. The solar microgrid is operated by American Samoa Power Authority and was partially funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Read a profile of this installation here.

In this webinar, presenters from the EPA, SolarCity, and American Samoa Power Authority discussed how this project was developed and the impact the microgrid will have on the island’s electric grid and its residents.

Presenters:

• Edna Noga, American Samoa Power Authority
• Tristan Glenwright, Director, Project Development, Micro Grids, SolarCity
• Trina Martynowicz, Technology & Partnerships Office, U.S. EPA Region 9

Moderator: Seth Mullendore, Project Director, Clean Energy Group

This webinar was a presentation of Clean Energy Group’s Resilient Power Project. Learn more at www.resilient-power.org.