Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis thinks that the future of Puerto Rico is solar panels plus battery storage. It points out, moreover, that $12 billion in federal funding has been set aside for the promotion of renewables in the islands, most of it yet to be used.
The islands face several difficulties with power. Generating electricity with fossil fuels in Puerto Rico is expensive, since coal, gas and petroleum have to be imported by sea, which ratchets up their price. Once installed, solar panels plus battery storage are much cheaper, and about 80,000 Puerto Rican households have put in the panels.
Even more motivating than the high price of fossil fuels is the destruction wrought by hurricanes Maria (Sept. 2017) and Fiona (Sept. 2022). After Maria many families had no electricity for a couple of months, or even six months and more in some instances. People just can’t trust the islands’ grid, and they are hedging their bets on it by buying solar panels and household batteries such as the Powerwall.
Then President Trump famously neglected Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and at one point contemptuously threw toilet paper in their direction at a news conference. No wonder they are determined to get off the electric grid and become free of the constraints of people such as Trump.
The IEEFA points out, “There are now more than 400 megawatts of solar and rooftop storage systems connected to the grid in Puerto Rico, with approximately 2,000 more connected each month. The [household] systems now represent a greater part of the island’s electricity consumption than solar energy at the utility scale.”
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Dan Avery at CNET explains that putting up the solar panels, however, entails a substantial up front cost of $10,000 to $12,000, which most Puerto Rican families cannot afford. Some families can afford to buy them on time, and the solar companies offer such deals, but at an average annual income of only $21,000, most Puerto Rican families cannot afford to buy panels even on time. In the continental US, the 33% tax credit from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act has helped impel people to get the panels. Many Puerto Ricans, however, don’t pay federal taxes, so they can’t get the rebate.
Government subsidies will be required to allow most people to adopt solar plus battery, even though that combination is cheaper than importing coal or fossil gas. Timothy Gardner at Reuters reports that Congress appropriated $1 billion to provide rooftop solar panels to Puerto Ricans, and that Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm wants to ensure this aid helps the most vulnerable. The $1 billion will put panels on 50,000 homes, but that leaves 350,000 which will still need it. The population of Puerto Rico is estimated at 3.2 million.
In 2022, Gardner says, Puerto Rico installed 163 MW of solar capacity, putting it in the top half of US states and territories for renewable energy.
Avery at CNET observes, “In January 2022, there were 42,000 homes and businesses with solar-plus-battery projects in Puerto Rico, more than eight times the number before Irma and Maria. This summer, that number is nearing 80,000.”
The good news is that both panels and batteries are falling in price because of technological advances, and there is every reason to think that Puerto Ricans will continue their solar insurrection. Solar plus batteries allow people to gain independence from the grid. If it advances fast enough, it may even lead to lots of cord-cutting from the utilities with their vulnerable above-ground poles and wires. The latter are especially vulnerable to climate change phenomena such as fiercer hurricanes, flooding, and wildfires. Some may even cause wildfires, as in Maui.
Puerto Rico is not only forging its own energy path, it may be telling those of us on the mainland what our future is likely to be.
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