Cubans turn to solar to keep lights on during fuel blockade — if they can afford it

HAVANA — In Cuba, the U.S. fuel blockade and the country’s aging power grids barely provide more than two hours of electricity a day. Solar panels have become the popular alternative, but at a very big price.

Seven months into the effective blockade, long power outages were widespread before — now many people get just one hour a day. But in Havana’s wealthier Playa municipality, people are installing their own electricity systems.

Resident Esther Torres had solar panels installed in the spring.

“It’s gone well with the panels because we spend too many hours without electricity and it’s an alternative you have to pay for to have power, to conserve food, and to be able to sleep better,” Torres said.

Her daughter, who lives in Chile, paid around $4,000 for the panels, the battery and everything needed to connect them.

“My mom is 80 years old and it was necessary for her quality of life,” Torres said. “It’s not a luxury, it’s a necessity.”

The Cuban government is pursuing the same strategy on a much bigger scale: expanding solar power — not so much to save the environment, as to keep the lights on.

In just one year, Cuban imports of Chinese solar panels increased 34-fold — the fastest growth anywhere in the world.

More than 50 solar parks have already been built. With China’s help, more are under construction.

Panels have also been installed on hospitals.

But on an island where the average state salary is just $11 a month, solar power remains out of reach for the vast majority.

“I have a neighbor who has it, but he has people outside the country who help financially,” one resident said. “I make the basic salary, so how could I afford it?”

Looking around a working-class neighborhood in Centro Habana, there are very few solar panels on the roofs of residential buildings.

The Cuban Revolution of 1959 promised people equality — but these days, one of the fault lines between rich and poor is who has electricity. The Trump administration is making a bad situation worse: sanctions this May hit shipping companies, leaving thousands of containers destined for Cuba stranded in Caribbean ports.

Fewer solar panels are getting into the country, and the price of solar has doubled. And that affects regular people desperate to get a little bit more electricity.

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