The U.S. Department of Energy pushes community solar microgrids in the cordillera

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), headed at the federal level by Secretary Chris Wright, announced new grant awards under the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund (PR-ERF), endowed by the federal Congress with $1,000 million to accelerate the transition toward renewable energy in vulnerable communities.

The federal funds finance the massive and free installation of photovoltaic systems on residential roofs accompanied by lithium battery banks in thousands of homes of low-income families and electrodependent or disabled people in central-cordillera municipalities such as Adjuntas, Orocovis, Castañer, and Maricao.

The initiative works in close alliance with community and environmental nonprofits, among them Casa Pueblo of Adjuntas, led by Arturo Massol Deyá, which has been a pioneer in the development of community energy-self-sufficiency models disconnected from the central grid. Beneficiary residents highlighted the vital security of having uninterrupted power in the face of LUMA Energy's frequent blackouts.

Source: NotiCel. https://www.noticel.com/tecnologia/ahora/20250730/doe-impulsa-microrredes-solares-comunitarias-en-la-cordillera/