President Mohamed Nasheed climbed on to the roof of the President’s Office, to inaugurate installation of a solar power system, today.
The installation of the solar panels was done under Project for Clean Energy Promotion in Male’, which is a project which promotes rooftop based grid connected solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in Male’. This is project is a grant from Government of Japan.
During his speech the President remarked that solar power helps to reduce our dependency on imported oil and that the completion of this project should cuts our electricity costs by one-third. The President further added that the government manifesto is aimed towards transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
In his speech, the President highlighted a number of aspects of the benefits of solar power such as cutting energy wastage and the importance of cost-effective energy conservation measures. The transition away from fossil fuels will increase the energy efficiency of Maldives by 20-30 percent, by end of 2013, said the President.
Under the first phase of the project, solar PV systems will be installed at the roof tops of public buildings following which, the panels will be connected to a STELCO network.
The President, sporting a safety harness and hardhat, joined an installation team to inaugurate the solar photovoltaic (PV) system.
