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48 49 So,we checked the hotel inMexico,”Pijuan contin- ues.“We checked their consumption,andwe checked themarket.We checked the other hotel in Punta Gorda in the Dominican Republic.We checked theHotel Grand Palladium in Lucea,close toMontego Bay,and we realized that the best place to go and implement a solar project,at the time,to get the best return,was Jamaica.It’s a perfect locationwith sunnyhours; the energy is expensive; and there are regulations that help tomove renewable energy.We encouraged them to invest in the Jamaican project.” The success of the Palladiumproject in the fall of 2014-6336 solar panels that help lower the hotel’s energyconsumption by15 percent,annually -made Sofos appreciate that Jamaicawas a good location to set up permanent shop for another important reason.“In Jamaica,there are good universi- ties and peoplewho are properly trained,”Pijuan says. “With their expertise,plus our expertise in solar,we decided tomake and train a team.That team,now,has between 10 and 15 people,and thenwe have a team that does different jobs on the technical side that we contract for different projects.We’ve got a good local staff and the crewis Jamaican.Theyworkwell with our training and engineering teams in Spain,so they can do all the designing necessary.And thenwe have project managers who develop and build the projects. Sincewe have come here,wemanaged to do between 15 and 20 projects,andwe’ve got more than 250 peo- pleworking at the same time.” In 2015,Sofos Jamaica beganworkon the biggest solar plant project in the country,and the Caribbean,as well-a $62million,20-megawatt,grid-connected solar photovoltaic facility in Clarendon,Jamaica,financed by the government and built byWRB Enterprises,an engi- neering and energycompany,based inTampa,Florida. “Wewere hired to do the detailed engineering of the site,to do the foundations of the racking,and to do the installation of the racking and themodules,”Pijuan reports.“So,that’s a huge area–the size of 27football pitches,andwe needed a lot of people tomeet the deadlines that we had.When you have a big construc- tion job,you need to hiremore builders.” Pijuan admits that evenwith its notable successes, the company still has to compete for business with multiple actors in the area.“You have bigger compa- nies,you have smaller,”he notes.“Whenwe got here, wewere quite unique becausewewere doing instal- lations that,for the size of the country,theyweren’t used to doing-especiallyworking in self-consumption, which is not something easy to do,because you need smart systems to interact with the grid.Wemanaged to get a place in themarket andwewere able to connect with the different clients who needed these SOFOS JAMAICA