Tiny Tokelau to be world's first solar-powered country  July 30,
2012 at 8:31 PM ET  Tokelau solar  A project to convert the tiny
island nation of Tokelau to all solar power is nearing fruition,
as workers finish the first of three major panel arrays. Once
activated, the installations should provide more than 90 percent
of the power used by the islands' 1,711 residents.  Tokelau is a
remote nation northeast of New Zealand comprising three atolls,
to which goods and passengers can only travel by boat. Their
electricity needs, though modest, are met by burning diesel fuel
in generators. The transportation of the nearly 2,000 barrels of
fuel consumed each year costs the population around a million
dollars — a heavy toll.  The three solar arrays will generate
about a megawatt in total, and batteries will keep the lights on
at times when Tokelau's citizens previously could not afford to
run generators. They are designed to withstand the humid and
windy tropical environment, and actually produce a surplus of
power,