Costa Rica President Laura Chinchilla and the head of the national energy institute (ICE) inaugurated Costa Rica's first large scale solar energy plant.
The Miravalles solar park, funded by a $10,000 donation by the Japanese and $1.5 million by ICE, has 4,300 235 watt solar panels, 10 power conditioners, a transformer and a control room.
The Miravalles solar park is located in Bagaces, a small town about 20 minutes from the newly expanded Liberia airport in the popular Guanacaste province. The solar park is comprised of 2.7 hectares and will generate 1.2 gigawatt hours per year.
Costa Rica takes environmental protection seriously, with over 25% of the country preserved in National Parks. President Chinchilla affirmed Costa Rica's green philosophy at the inauguration ceremony of the solar park.
"Today we not only took another step in terms of increasing installed capacity to continue generating more electricity and meet our economy's demands, but we also confirmed that our growth will continue to rely on renewable energy generation."