Bahamas Dive Resort Goes Solar

Small Hope Bay Lodge on Andros Island in the Bahamas has always been firmly committed to its natural environment. For many years, Small Hope has employed several measures to reduce its environmental impact such as LED bulbs in all of the Lodge’s light fixtures and water saving devices in all the toilets.

Now Small Hope have taken things a step further. All the hot water for the entire resort – that means all 21 beachfront cabins, as well as its kitchen, lounge, and hot tub – are all completely solar heated now.

This is a big step for Small Hope, and Andros Island in general. Andros island’s energy is currently supplied by diesel generators, a very costly and inefficient fuel source. By switching all of its water heating to solar, Small Hope is taking a huge step forward in reducing their dependency on non-renewable energy sources.

The process began last summer when a team of interns from Duke University helped design and implement a solar hot water heating system for the resort. They got the ball rolling and helped construct the unit the resort is currently using to heat all the water for its cabins, lounge and kitchen.

Small Hope then expanded the project further and, with a little help for some good friends, constructed an additional unit for heating the resort’s hot tub.

To find out more about the resort, visit www.smallhope.com.