Elon Musk Suggests That Tesla Could Rebuild Puerto Rico's Electricity System With Solar And Batterie

[G_j]

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2017/10/elon-musk-suggests-that-tesla-could-rebuild-puerto-ricos-electricity-system-with-solar-and-batteries/


Elon Musk Suggests That Tesla Could Rebuild Puerto Rico's Electricity System With Solar And Batteries
By Tom Pritchard on 05 Oct 2017 at 11:30AM
Puerto Rico hasn't had a great time of it recently, and in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria large portions of the country's power infrastructure is in disarray. A lot of effort has been done to provide aid, particularly from Elon Musk who had Tesla ship solar panels and Powerwall batteries to bring power back to the population.

As it turns out, though, Musk thinks it's possible to power the entire territory with solar panels and big-ass batteries:


https://mobile.twitter.com/elonmusk/status/915939199718531072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gizmodo.co.uk%2F2017%2F10%2Felon-musk-suggests-that-tesla-could-rebuild-puerto-ricos-electricity-system-with-solar-and-batteries%2F

[NightWatcher]

1. He should do it then use the success as a commercial for the rest of us.

[MineralMan]

2. How quickly can he do that, I wonder?

Elon Musk can do lots of things, but right now, Puerto Rico needs them to be done immediately. Elon Musk rarely does anything immediately, but he has lots of good ideas.

The millions of people in Puerto Rico need solutions that are ready and scaled up to meet their enormous needs today. Elon Musk doesn't have that solution ready to ship, I'm afraid.

[Snotcicles]

3. It would be a good test case experiment. I'd like to see it happen. nt

[doc03]

4. Trump will build a coal fired power plant nt

[CentralMass]

5. How well do large arrays of solar panels fare in hurricanes ?

[Gore1FL]

8. Good question. I found this and it looks promising.

http://news.energysage.com/solar-panels-hail-hurricanes/

"With high wind speeds and heavy rain, solar panels may be at risk of being dislodged from their spot or damaged by high volumes of water. However, similar to hail, solar panels are typically tested by manufacturers to ensure that they can survive hurricanes. Most solar panels are certified to withstand winds of up to 2,400 pascals, equivalent to approximately 140 mile-per-hour winds."

[CentralMass]

11. Thank you. That does sound promising.

[Not Ruth]

6. Elon is amazing

[obamanut2012]

7. And there it is -- BOOM

Privatizing PR.

[Gore1FL]

9. It says they would rebuild it.

Unless I misread it, I suspect Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority would own/operate it.

[hunter]

10. Ummmm.... what?

The least expensive way to distribute electricity is a couple of wires on a wood pole.

That's the system that failed in Puerto Rico. The wires got knocked down

The vast majority of people in Puerto Rico can't afford Tesla Solar Panels and Power Walls. Hell, I can't afford Tesla Solar Panels and Power Walls. (I do have a couple of solar panels that will be useful for charging cell phones and flashlights when the next big California earthquake hits.)

Even the most basic neighborhood solar power co-ops would be significantly more complex and expensive than the wooden-pole power systems that have been so severely damaged by the hurricane. There's no evidence these solar systems would be more resilient in a hurricane. Repairing power lines is certainly a more straightforward task than trouble-shooting and repairing hurricane damaged solar panels, batteries, and inverter systems.

The first order of business is to get the existing power grid in Puerto Rico up and running. Musk and his wealthy customers don't have anything to do with that, although I'm quite certain a few wealthier Puerto Ricans will now be very interested in what Tesla is selling, as additions to their existing emergency power systems.

The people in Puerto Rico sure as hell don't need to go into further debt building an expensive high tech electric grid they can't afford.

Affluent first world people have a bad habit of using people living in poverty as guinea pigs for agricultural, energy, and economic schemes they wouldn't be willing to live with themselves.

[Merlot]

12. Disaster capitalism at it's finest

It's green. yay.

[Rhiannon12866]

13. Workable, or not, I'm all for getting the geniuses of the world together to help Puerto Rico

They desperately need help and this should be a national project.