Elon Musk pitches solar panels to rebuild Puerto Rico’s power grid
When Scott Stapf read a story about Puerto Rico’s “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rethink how it gets electricity,” he had a thought: Could Elon Musk rebuild the country’s electricity system with independent solar and battery systems?
So, he posed the question on Twitter probably not expecting to get an answer from the man himself.
But that’s exactly what he got:
As Musk says in his tweet, Tesla is familiar with what it takes, though on a smaller scale than the one desperately needed in Puerto Rico. Check out this video of how it works on the Samoan island of Ta’u, from the SolarCity blog:
Late Thursday, Puerto Rico Gov. Ricky Rossello expressed his interest, tweeting “Let’s talk” to Musk, saying “PR could be that flagship project.”
Musk has already stepped up in a big way to do his part for Puerto Rico. After the hurricane left the island’s grid in shambles, Tesla reportedly sent hundreds of Powerwalls — battery systems designed to store energy — along with employees to install them in an effort to restore power.
Musk also donated $250,000 of his own money to the relief effort.
Tesla shares have gained 66 percent in 2017, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 14 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 15 percent.