When lights go out across the island, Casa Pueblo’s solar microgrids keep running. Instead of relying on a crumbling centralized grid that leaves 3.2 million people in the dark for an average of 27 hours a year, these systems bring renewable power generation directly to communities.
The results speak for themselves: 80% reduction in electricity bills, zero power outages, and neighbors supporting neighbors during emergencies. From local businesses staying open during blackouts to families finally having peace of mind during hurricane season, this is what energy independence looks like.
Last month, Casa Pueblo demonstrated how their interconnected solar microgrids can transform Puerto Rico’s landscape. In front of special guests and community members, electrical engineer and researcher Maximiliano Ferrari gave a live demonstration of the orchestrator, an innovative technology that breaks with the current model of unidirectional transmission and allows multidirectional dynamics of energy exchange between communities. This demonstration proved that microgrids can support each other in times of emergency or massive blackouts to ensure that community energy needs are met.
This isn’t just about keeping the lights on—it’s about reimagining what’s possible.
“We are proposing to scale up and evolve from independent solar installations, which number more than 175,000 throughout the country, to energy communities of homes with and without solar panels. We already know that individual systems offer a good quality of life. With the microgrid ecosystem, we would have a good coexistence,” said Casa Pueblo’s executive director, Arturo Massol Deyá.
“We are saying that, in order to address the energy problem, the government needs to invest in solutions like this, which can be replicated and respond to the real interests of our people,” he continued. “The Laboratory is the way forward and must be strengthened. What the government has not done, we are doing in our national laboratory.”
The technology exists. The proof is working. Now it’s time to scale it up.
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Casa Pueblo is a grantee partner of The Solutions Project, working to build community-led solutions for climate justice and energy equity in Puerto Rico. Special thanks to The Solutions Project’s funding partner, Okta for Good, for supporting community-led clean energy projects like this.