Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed helped install 48 solar voltaic panels on the roof of the presidential residence in the capital of the nation south of India.


Over their lifetime, the panels will save $300,000 in electricity costs and spare the environment of 195 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, according to the president’s office and the American company that designed the installation.


"The Maldives stands at the front line of climate change and we don’t have the luxury of time to sit and wait for the rest of the world to act," the president said in a statement. "We are getting to work to start the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy."


Sungevity, a California-based solar power company, helped the president install the panels on the roof of the residence in Male, the Maldives capital.


Maldivian leaders have long been adamant leaders on climate issues and President Nasheed also has acted on non-polluting energy choices. Maldives is vulnerable if seas rise because the country does not have much terrain more than eight feet above sea level.