Distributed solar additions have vastly outpaced all other forms of generation as Puerto Rico’s overall power generation capacity continues to grow.
Puerto Rico has reached 1.3 GW of residential solar and 185,000 residential batteries, with Wood Mackenzie expecting three more GWh of residential storage by 2029. Utility-scale solar and storage projects are gearing up, as described by an attorney with McConnell Valdés.
Solar module manufacturer Solx, a new player in the industry, is expected to soon open Puerto Rico’s first module manufacturing factory.
Solx plans to open Puerto Rico’s first solar module factory in Aguadilla with a $25 million investment. The 1 GW facility will produce 625 W panels for the utility-scale market at a repurposed Hewlett-Packard site.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will provide more than half a billion dollars in loans to add nearly 1 GWh of capacity via Convergent, to build and operate utility-scale solar-plus-storage in Puerto Rico, improving grid resilience.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) new Programa de Comunidades Resilientes will fund solar and battery storage facilities across Puerto Rico serving low- and moderate-income communities.
A new U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantee will help finance 200 MW of solar and 285 MW of grid-scale storage on the island.
Sunrun, a US-based residential solar installer, says nearly 1,800 customers have already signed up to its PowerOn Puerto Rico virtual power plant (VPP). The program deploys stored solar energy from customers’ batteries to the grid, preventing power supply shortfalls on the island.
Portable solar generators are making their way from the fringes of solar and energy storage to become a mainstream consumer item. The rise has been charged by a range of factors that have created massive brands. Where did the sector emerge from, who was buying before, who is buying now, and what’s next? Tristan Rayner reports.
While distributed solar and storage are advancing quickly in Puerto Rico, utility-scale solar and storage procurements ordered by regulators in 2020 have made little progress.