Islands
Collaborating for Puerto Rico’s Energy Transformation
More than a year after Hurricane Maria passed by, Puerto Rico’s energy system does not fully meet the needs of the 3.4 million American citizens who live on the island. It is also not sufficient to sustain local commerce, which is worth $105 billion of GDP annually, and which includes…
Schools Stronger than Storms
One year ago, Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, causing the largest power outage in US history. Puerto Ricans, on average, suffered without electricity for three months, many for almost a year, as recovery officials struggled to repair what was already a poorly maintained and inefficient electrical grid. This prolonged power…
Part Two—Critical Facilities: Where Government and Utility Services Redefine Resilience
In the first part of this two-part series (available here), we explored how the 2017 hurricane season left thousands of homes, businesses, and critical services across the Caribbean in the dark for extended periods of time, and how little benefit backup generators bring to the region’s electrical systems. We…
Solar Under Storm: Designing Hurricane-Resilient PV Systems
The 2017 hurricane season was one of the most active in history. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria brought widespread destruction throughout the Caribbean. In addition to the emotional toll these severe storms had on people in the region, the disruption of critical infrastructure left many communities without basic services…
How Caribbean Islands Are Leading the Clean Energy Transformation
When most people think about Caribbean islands, they envision white sand beaches and coral reefs. But for people like us who work on combatting climate change, what first comes to mind are rising sea levels, extreme storms, eroding coastlines, and other consequences that these islands face. They are on the…