Canary in Atoll Mine - Islands as Sentinels

Paradise - Jan Bruegel

There's been plenty of press about islands going solar. Hawaii is getting the most coverage but there are many locations tagging along - Bermuda, the Cook Islands, Guam and many others.

All of these island stories talk on about photoelectric systems providing competitive electricity. Great and all but it's occured to me these island deployents are also proving grounds for mainland deployments. Small grid... PV is relatively cheap... Lots of solar is coming in and the Grid Guys are figuring things out. The situation is a true fortune. I wish I was there. Not just for the weather but the job must be everyday interesting. What-fucking-now right?

Bermuda, Fiji and so ons will be bumping into high penetration situations shortly. How are they going to deal with integrating all the solar? How are consumer attitudes going to evolve? What will the equilibrium condition look like for the installation business? Will solar come from farms or roofs?

These islands are sentinels of the future just as canaries were sentinels in coal mines. It would be smart to direct money to places like Hawaii where diesel is the go to fuel. We can learn alot quickly. Results beat theory.