Photo Courtesy of The Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach

The Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach Resort & Spa has become the first Westin property and first major Caribbean resort to use solar power. Although many small boutique hotels that encourage ecotourism have used solar power, the new installation at the Westin St. Maarten marks the first time a large luxury resort has made a major green initiative. The hotel is slowly adding solar panels to harness the island's sunshine in all aspects of the property, with the renovation to be completed by 2014. So no more yelling at the kids for leaving the lights on in the hotel room!

“There are hotels and resorts utilizing solar power for specific areas, such as heating pools and water, bungalows or, if it is a small property, replacing nearly all energy use with solar,” said Expert Anthony Prall Jr.’s of Caribbean Energy Store. “However, The Westin St. Maarten is unique in that it is a large resort and its ultimate goal is to use solar energy for most of its overall fuel consumption.”