Tindo is supplying Australian-made solar panels to a key South Pacific infrastructure project as international markets demand quality renewables hardware.

Tindo is supplying the East Micronesia Cable (ESM) project with 70 430W Walara solar panels, which will be used to power the data cable landing stations in Nauru, and Tarawa in Kiribati.

The ESM is a 2,250km undersea data cable that links Tarawa in Kiribati, to Nauru and to Kosrae and Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. Pohnpei already has an international data connection. The project, expected to be completed by December 2025, is being funded by the governments of Australia, the United States and Japan and will give around 100,000 people in the South Pacific access to high-speed data.

Chief Executive Officer of Tindo, Richard Petterson, said the contract to supply the solar panels was a vote of confidence in Australian engineering and manufacturing.

“We make a high-quality, premium solar panel that has a 25-year product warranty and is proven in extreme weather conditions,” said Mr Petterson. “Our in-house engineering team is constantly upgrading and improving the panels. We are delighted that the performance and durability of our technology is recognised in other countries and is being utilised for important infrastructure, to the benefit of communities in our region.”

Mr Petterson said the solar panel manufacturer, which employs 60 people, concentrates on high-quality zero-fault processes which had earned Tindo the top ranking in the most recent CHOICE solar panel product review, at the end of 2024. Tindo’s 410W Karra achieved an overall 92% ‘CHOICE Expert Rating’ in front of the 80% CHOICE Expert Rating scored by the second-placed panel. The CHOICE power output test revealed the 410W Tindo panel delivered 417W, while the other solar panels in the review produced less than the manufacturer’s claimed output.

Procurement partner to the East Micronesia Cable – P.R.A. Electrical Pty Ltd (PRA) who have extensive expertise in South Pacific projects – evaluated the undersea cable project as requiring high-quality solar panels with guaranteed performance and durability.

“The landing stations are on the water’s edge, and it’s very humid in these countries,” said Project Manager from P.R.A., Chris Atkinson. “Tindo has a proven lamination process that doesn’t allow condensation under the glass, and the panels are also cyclone-rated, which makes them well-suited to this type of infrastructure.”

Mr Atkinson said P.R.A. has also supplied Tindo solar panels to a Japanese/Australian government-funded Humanitarian Warehouse in Tarawa, Kiribati.