Tesla Installs Solar, Battery Project at Puerto Rico Children’s Hospital

"Tesla announces 'first of many' solar-plus-storage projects in Puerto Rico. It's one of several efforts to repower the island with renewable energy post-hurricane. "

"Solar panels began filling a parking lot outside a children's hospital this week as Elon Musk's first major solar-plus-storage project in Puerto Rico took shape, demonstrating how quickly solar microgrids can be established for long-term clean, resilient power.

It's one small but telling step in a U.S. territory of 3.4 million people still largely in the dark five weeks after Hurricane Maria struck.

Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and SolarCity, launched a conversation about bringing solar microgrids to the island a little over two weeks ago in a Twitter exchange with Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello. Musk suggested that pairing solar panels with battery systems had worked for other islands and could help Puerto Rico rebuild from the hurricane, too. Rossello's quick response: Let's talk."

Lyndsey Gilpin reports for InsideClimate News October 25, 2017.