The Office of the Prime Minister of Jamaica commissioned its high-efficiency, state-of-the-art solar PV array, thanks to Solar Head of State, a nonprofit that helps world leaders become green leaders by installing solar panels on government buildings. The 501(c)3 is registered in California and has previously coordinated similar installations with the President of the Maldives and Governor-General of Saint Lucia.

The project relies on a partnership with Solaria Corporation, a global provider of solar module technologies. The new aesthetic PV array is a 15kW solar electric system comprised of Solaria PowerXT solar modules and Enphase Energy (NASDAQ:ENPH) microinverters. It is being deployed as Jamaica joins with other Caribbean nations in accelerating efforts to combat climate change.

The partnership had additional support from Solar Island Energy, a Missouri-based installation and engineering company, and Envisage Energy, a Jamaican solar installer. The project received additional support from Island Innovation, Elms Consulting, National Energy Solutions Limited and the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica.

Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness heralded the new system as emblematic of the clean energy technologies that must be deployed by Caribbean islands to decarbonize economies, reduce regional fossil fuel use, and combat climate change. Last week's IPCC report emphasized the danger posed to island nations by climate change.

"I believe that we can do better. Jamaica has sunshine all year round and strong winds in certain parts of the island," said Prime Minister Holness. "I have directed the government to increase our target from 30% to 50%, and our energy company is totally in agreement. So I believe that by 2030, Jamaica will be producing more than 50% of its electricity from renewables."

"Due to climate change, small island developing states (SIDS) need to leverage renewable resources such as solar," said Solar Head of State Director James Ellsmoor. "We are focused on installing highly visible solar arrays on public buildings to draw greater attention to renewables. Jamaica's commitment to ushering in a new era of renewable energy is laudable." 

"Solaria is very proudto be helping Jamaica transition to clean energy with this new state-of-the-art PowerXT solar array," said Solaria CEO Suvi Sharma.  Solaria PowerXT modules ensure tremendous savings and efficiencies - in system design, field labor, installation time and costs.

"Enphase is excited about bringing scale, control and smart grid capabilities to distributed power generation at Jamaica House," said Surya Potharaju, senior director of product management at Enphase Energy. "The ability to quickly, safely and cost-effectively modify the settings on our advanced microinverters helps move island grids closer to achieving the full integration of solar."

Due to a historic lack of diversification of energy resources,J amaica has been heavily reliant on imported fossils fuels, resulting in CO2 emissions and high electricity prices up to four times higher than the United States. Caribbean nations are also vulnerable to hurricanes and extreme weather; renewable energy increases islands' resilience - stabilizing electricity supply in the wake of natural disasters. 

Solar Head of State is assisting with PV deployment in Jamaica and other vulnerable nations around the world as they confront climate change, extreme weather events and sea level rise. Jamaica joins with other SIDS in embracing ambitious renewable energy projects. 

Solar Head of State | solarheadofstate.org

Solaria | www.solaria.com

Enphase | enphase.com