Vad händer
Kontext
Grow har skrivit om Puerto Ricos satsningar på fri energi och att man rör sig bort från centraliserade system och ett heltäckande elnät till förmån för lokala lösningar med solpaneler och batterier och att befolkningen ska äga och kontrollera resurserna.
Microgrids power small networks of buildings with energy that’s generated close to where it’s used, often wind or solar. The systems are typically connected to a central grid, but in the case of an outage they can run on “island mode,” relying solely on locally generated power and battery storage capacity.
Yes Magazine: Community-Powered Solar in Puerto Rico
Orkanen Maria skadade över åttio procent av Puerto Ricos elnät. Det tog månader att bygga upp en fungerande energiinfrastruktur och många människor dog som en följd av detta.
Rooftop solar alone could provide four times the island’s residential energy demand, Department of Energy studies have shown. In 2019, Puerto Rican lawmakers set a goal of transitioning to 40% renewable energy by 2025 and 100% by 2050. But despite those commitments, the island currently sources less than 4% from renewables. In recent years, PREPA has advanced methane gas projects and even proposed a fee on energy generated by rooftop solar to help pay its $9 million debt.
Yes Magazine: Community-Powered Solar in Puerto Rico
I kontakten med hjälporganisationer har invånare i Puerto Rico bett om soldrivna lampor istället för pengar och att investera i solparker.
Over the next six months, the organization distributed 14,000 lamps. And in the last six years, it has helped fund and install more than 350 solar energy systems on buildings across town, including in an assisted living facility, a grocery store, the local fire station, and many homes in the poorest neighborhoods of Adjuntas. Casa Pueblo even built a public solar park, where locals charge phones using outlets that source energy from solar arrays resembling trees.
Yes Magazine: Community-Powered Solar in Puerto Rico
Vad har det för betydelse
By creating a microgrid with other local businesses on the grid, including a bakery, hardware store, and pharmacy, Adjuntas could gain energy security during emergencies, all while starving the fossil fuel industry by unplugging those with the highest energy demands.
Yes Magazine: Community-Powered Solar in Puerto Rico
