The hurricane season around the Caribbean is slowly coming to an end again. What remains are debris in large parts of the Caribbean and the United States. Puerto Rico, for example, lost large parts of its electrical infrastructure. Elon Musk, known for the Tesla and Mars mission project, now wants to rebuild the infrastructure with solar technology.
Even weeks after Hurricane Maria left its mark on Puerto Rico, large parts of the island are still without power. Elon Musk wants to scale up his technology, which is already providing solar power to some smaller islands, for Puerto Rico.
Musk is best known for the electric cars marketed under the Tesla name, but part of the same company is also SolarCity - a solar panel company that specialises in efficiently storing large amounts of electricity in batteries called power banks. The company already installed a solar-powered electricity network on the islet of Ta'u that is fully powered by the sun and has enough storage capacity for three 'sunless' days.
According to Musk, the same technology can also be scaled up to larger islands. Tesla already has a number of battery systems on the island so the initial energy demand can be solved.
That the market for solar energy systems for islands is serious is demonstrated by the recent introduction of MGS100, a system from multinational company ABB that combines solar energy with the ability to store the energy in batteries. This solution is specifically designed for islands and remote areas. The MGS100 is a plug-and-play solution that enables access to affordable and reliable power. It combines all the components needed for a micro-grid in one device. The MGS100 comes as a single container in three rated power versions: 20 kW, 40 kW and 60 kW, making it quick and easy to install.
