18.5 MW Solar Diesel Reduction

On September 28th, ONYX won approval for an 18.5 Megawatt solar power project being built on Roatan Island, Honduras (click here or the image below, to download the project white paper). The project is slated to cost $84 million US and take approximately 9 months to complete. Pictures from the approval meeting can be seen at the bottom of this page.

ONYX sees this project as a premium opportunity to debut its newly branded 280-watt panel. Beyond the Company's excitement over supplying and installing their newest products, this project also represents a move to assist a strong U.S. ally to become more self-reliant for electrical power. Currently, many nations of Central America, South America and the Caribbean find themselves being squeezed by the need for power coupled with the temptation to use Venezuelan diesel for electrical generation. While this solution has provided a quick supply of power - it comes with a very high cost to the sovereignty and free will of these nations.

In 2009, Honduras, a strong U.S. ally, experienced great difficulty from the influence of Venezuela. The event is sometimes referred to as the "2009 Honduran Constitutional Crisis" and ended with the removal of President Manuel Zelaya by the National Congress. Wikipedia details the incident at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Honduran_constitutional_crisis. Zelaya had been moving Honduras into further submission to Venezuelan influence and attempting to impose Chaves-style socialism by ignoring the nation's Constitutional rules and orders from their Supreme Court.

Currently, rising diesel prices are becoming an extreme hardship for Honduran citizens and businesses. This issue is hurting the country's ability to attract new business. Solar power has been identified as a realistic solution to solve this pressing issue. The island of Roatan is a renowned tourist destination and a significant source of revenues for Honduras. Roatan has a significant American expat population and a perfect location for the Company's first diesel reduction solar project. The July 2011 issue of "Islands Magazine" rated Roatan the #1 island to retire on in the world.

The map to the left graphically represents the current problem taking place just south of the United States. Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua (labeled in red) have become a concentrated "axis" of power in the region. Assisting our US allies (labeled in blue) to provide power for their citizens without becoming more relient on Venezuelan diesel is a noble venture in the new millennium.

Without power projects that reduce reliance on Venezuelan diesel, prices can be raised and lowered at will to force leaders of these nations to bend to the will of Hugo Chavez.

Current allies in the region include Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Columbia. Every one of these nations have considerable American investment and strategic value - such as control of the Panama Canal and massive agricultural assets.

In the mid 1980's, the United States backed a very expensive struggle to keep El Salvador from turning into another Socialist / Communist nation in the Western Hemisphere. In the new millennium, energy freedom can liberate these allies without any need for risk or confrontation.

ONYX has identified three ten-acre tracts that are strategically located to provide the best exposure to the sun, proximity to the existing electrical grid and construction access.

Each ten-acre tract has been designated to be a separate stage, so that the project can be completed in thirds. Each of the stages is expected to utilize 23,500 panels at 280 watts each.

The Honduran legal and lobbying firm of Villela and Villela has been engaged as lead legal and lobbying contracting firm for the project.

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Onyx