WILLEMSTAD – Eco Capital is proposing to transform nearly 7,000 homes across Curaçao into a coordinated solar-energy network that could operate as a single large electricity producer, under a project known as Flexilife Solar.
Unlike conventional residential solar systems, the proposal would not focus primarily on reducing the electricity consumption of individual households. Instead, solar panels installed across thousands of suitable rooftops would be combined with battery storage and digitally controlled as one distributed electricity-generation system.
Eco Capital's central scenario envisions nearly 70 megawatt-peak (MWp) of solar-panel capacity spread across approximately 7,000 homes. The project would primarily target households consuming less than 250 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month.
Under the model, a household with relatively low electricity consumption could still make a larger rooftop available for energy production. The resident would not become an independent electricity producer. Instead, the rooftop installation would form part of a professionally managed portfolio capable of supplying electricity to the grid.
Eco Capital says the system should ultimately be measurable and controllable by Aqualectra in much the same way as a conventional electricity producer.
A notable aspect of the proposal is the difference between the nearly 70 MWp of installed solar capacity and Eco Capital's stated objective of delivering the energy equivalent of approximately 10 megawatts over a longer period.
Solar panels do not continuously generate electricity at their maximum rated capacity. Production varies according to sunlight and time of day. Eco Capital therefore calculates that substantially more installed solar capacity, combined with storage, would be necessary to provide the longer-term energy equivalent of approximately 10 megawatts.
Its preliminary model calls for approximately 234 megawatt-hours of battery storage. However, the company says that calculation is still based on an international benchmark.
A final design would require Curaçao-specific information on solar irradiation, wind conditions, electricity demand, battery performance and limitations within the existing electricity grid.
The project would also require substantial investment. An initial estimate puts the cost of the solar panels alone at approximately XCG 140 million.
That figure does not represent the total cost of Flexilife Solar. Battery storage, software, financing, grid modifications and other infrastructure expenses have not yet been included.
Eco Capital therefore says the available figures are insufficient to conclude that the combination of solar energy and battery storage would be cheaper than alternatives such as wind power.
The proposal remains subject to major technical and financial hurdles, including financing, grid connection, technical feasibility and the ability of the distributed system to deliver the promised performance.
If implemented, however, Flexilife Solar would represent a fundamentally different approach to residential solar power in Curaçao: thousands of individual rooftops operating together as one coordinated source of electricity for the island.