So it’s really no surprise to see solar advocates such as Musk reaching out to Puerto Rico. “If system were redesigned around microgrids incorporating local power production,” Holdmann said, “there would still be losses, but the number and duration of outages due to severe weather events would decrease.” “When we are facing the sort of infrastructure destruction we have seen this hurricane season, it only makes sense to give some pause before reinvesting in the exact same system that proved too vulnerable,” Gwen Holdmann, who directs the Alaska Center for Energy and Power at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, said in an email. Reducing those fuel costs by switching to wind or solar could permanently set these island economies on a more positive trajectory. Island residents face some of the highest energy prices in the world because the vast majority of their fuel must be imported. The long-term economic benefits could be equally transformative. And at tropical latitudes, you get the most bang for your solar buck: Photovoltaic panels located there are even more effective at energy generation than they are at higher latitudes. Solar panels, which can feed their power into batteries and be linked together into local or regional power grids, are one example of a technology that could spread the potential risk out across a population. Scientists and energy experts say that a distributed grid that doesn’t rely on a single power plant for energy generation could help vulnerable island regions such as the Caribbean weather strong storms like Irma or Maria. Musk isn’t exactly going out on a limb here.
It was an example of how, under the right conditions, an island population could shift almost entirely away from fossil fuels.Īccording to Musk, there’s no reason something similar couldn’t be achieved in Puerto Rico. Last year, Tesla said it had wired Ta’u with thousands of solar panels and batteries that would meet nearly all of the energy needs of its 600 residents. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, approved use of its balloons from Project Loon to help return Internet service to remote areas where cell phone towers were knocked down.Among the “many smaller islands” to which Musk is referring is the island of Ta’u in American Samoa. Other tech companies have stepped forward to help Puerto Rico get back on its feet. Ricardo Rosselló wants the contract audited, while members of Congress have raised eyebrows about how the deal was completed because the company is based in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's hometown of Whitefish, Mont.
Recently, Whitefish Energy Holdings was awarded a $300 million contract to help rebuild Puerto Rico's power grid. More: Five weeks after Maria most of Puerto Rico remains an island in the dark Roughly three-quarters of residents still find themselves without power, more than one month after Hurricane Maria slammed the island as a Category 5 storm. "The Tesla team has done this for many smaller islands around the world, but there is no scalability limit, so it can be done for Puerto Rico too," Musk said earlier this month. The process involves pairing large batteries with solar panels and solar roof tiles. SolarCity, which is also run by Musk, is to handle installing and selling the solar panels. Rebuilding Puerto Rico's power grid could take months and cost as much as $5 billion. "Glad to help support the recovery."Įarlier this month, Musk pledged to meet with the governor of Puerto Rico to work on ways to rebuild the island's electrical grid with renewable energy. Puerto Rico was ravaged by two powerful hurricanes in September.
#ELON MUSK PUERTO RICO MICRO GRIDS SERIES#
The hospital "is the first of many solar+battery Tesla projects going live in Puerto Rico," Musk wrote on Instagram, along with an image of a series of solar panels. Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed the solar project Thursday. More than a month after Hurricane Maria hit, Tesla has restored power to the Children's Hospital in Puerto Rico. The project will retrofit the islands’ existing 9. The project will include 15.5 MW of solar, 11.6 MWh of storage, and fossil generation in an amount that has not been finalized, FEMA said. Elon Musk said he will speak with Puerto Ricos governor about the potential to help get the countrys power grid back online.» Subscribe to CNBC: http://cnb. Watch Video: Power companies helping Puerto Rico get praise and criticism Federal Emergency Management Agency is funding a 97 million microgrid project for Puerto Rico’s island municipalities of Vieques and Culebra.
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