American Sai-Green Corporation president James Xue, who is among the investors interested in helping the CNMI shift to renewable energy use, said the streetlights have bulbs with an eight-year warranty while the solar panel and the wind turbine can be used for 18 years.
Xue said he is donating the streetlights so the people can see how the combination of solar panel and wind turbine works.
The solar energy will be the primary source of power, but if it rains or becomes cloudy, the wind turbine will do the job, he added.
The wind turbine also protects itself by shutting down automatically if the wind gust goes up to 80 miles per hour, he said.
The entire structure of the streetlight, Xue added, is typhoon-proof.
Juan Cabrera, the local partner of American Sai-Green Corp., said he was impressed by the quality of the streetlights.
He said if the company will be given the opportunity to do business in the CNMI, there will be no increase in the power rates.
Cabrera said the Department of Public Works, the Division of Environmental Quality and the office of the lt. governor support the project.
There are other foreign investors who are offering to provide the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. renewable energy technology, but Cabrera said: “We have to look at their proposals carefully and make sure we don’t let personal interest come in.”
Any deals “should benefit everybody in the community and not just a few,” he added.
Xue and Cabrera accompanied the officials of Guangzhou-based HY Energy Technology Co. Ltd. who visited CUC’s power plant recently.
