A New Zealand parliamentary delegation has officially opened solar arrays in the northern Cook islands of Penrhyn and Manihiki.
The New Zealand foreign minister, Murray McCully, says it marks the completion of the $US15 million dollar Cook Islands Solar Project.
He says the new solar arrays will provide over 95 per cent of the electricity needs for the villages they connect to, and save the country about 230,000 litres of imported diesel per year.
Two sites on Penrhyn have a total of 672 panels and two sites on Manihiki 1134 panels.