At Enel, the lovely festivities involved innovation and sustainability, giving life to the country's first Christmas tree lit with 100% renewable energy. The origin of this energy is a very special one: the Solar Flower, installed in front of Enel’s corporate building in 2016. It generates electricity with photovoltaic panels and, thanks to its automatic solar tracking system, it behaves like a sunflower unfolding its petals and changing its position following the sun’s movement during the day.
Thanks to this system, the Solar Flower provided energy to the 72,000 LED lights, strung on Enel’s 16 meter Christmas tree, consuming an average of 1,300 watts, equivalent to the consumption of an electric kettle at its boiling point.
To inaugurate it, Enel organized the event "Santiago Christmas Jazz", including the presentations of the bands Mapocho Orchestra, Ensamble de Bronces and Percusión Mapocho and the participation of Enrique Soro de Quilicura school’s children's choir, accompanying the lighting of the tree for the first time.
They performed a selection of Christmas music, including jazz, popular, and lyrical pieces, which delighted over 700 people who attended the event. Among the public were Enel employees, members of neighborhood committees, and authorities such as Energy Minister, Andrés Rebolledo; the mayor of Santiago, Felipe Alessandri and the ambassador of Italy, Marco Ricci.
Francesco Starace - CEO of the Enel Group, was also present, who in the midst of the excitement of the evening commented that "for me it’s quite strange to see Christmas in summer and wait until 9:00 at night for it to get dark, but I think it's a very good idea to light a tree with renewable energy produced by the Solar Flower, it's all a natural symbolism."
The highlight of the evening was the spectacular light show, which marked the moment when the tree was lit up for the first time, bringing the Christmas spirit to Santiago in a cleaner and more sustainable way for the enjoyment of neighbors and attendees to this event.