Solar for Puerto Rico

Our story

Our Story on the Island

When Hurricane Maria knocked out Puerto Rico's grid in 2017 — and earthquakes shook the island's southwest soon after — Puerto Ricans organized themselves into Centros de Apoyo Mutuo: mutual aid centers, often in abandoned schoolhouses reclaimed as hubs of food, shelter, and support. That's where we went to work. Alongside volunteers and partner organizations, we brought solar power to communities like Buccarabones — a mountain village reachable only by single-lane switchback roads — Lares, and Las Carolinas, turning reclaimed buildings into powered community centers with lights, fans, refrigeration, and batteries that keep working when the grid doesn't.

The opportunity

Why resilience hubs, and why now

Puerto Rico is in the middle of a rooftop solar boom — but it's a boom for those who own roofs and can finance systems. Renters, low-income families, and under-resourced community organizations are being left behind, even as the grid still fails for days at a time in bad storm years.

Resilience hubs close that gap: one solar-plus-storage installation at a trusted community site serves everyone around it, exactly when they need it most. And true to how we work everywhere, we equip each community with the knowledge and tools to operate and maintain their system for the long run.

What's next

What's next

Our next resilience hub is now in planning with the support of a partner foundation — the newest step in growing this network of storm-ready community sites across the island. We'll announce the site and partners as agreements are finalized.