Sunlight instead of diesel: Rarotonga's public rooftops are going solar

Rarotonga, home to about 11,000 people, runs mostly on diesel generators — which means every litre of fuel has to be shipped across the Pacific, at prices and on schedules the island does not control. Now New Zealand solar developer Sunergise and the Cook Islands Investment Corporation have agreed a framework to put rooftop solar on public buildings across the island, starting with a rooftop licence agreement and then adding systems site by site as each building is assessed. It is an early step, not a finished switch — but it points the island toward its bigger goal of moving all 12 inhabited Cook Islands from diesel to solar-and-battery power, and the programme includes hands-on renewable-energy learning for local students along the way.

SDG 7 · Affordable and clean energy — Mechanism: institutional program