One day a bakery owner in Puerto Rico decided to generate her own electricity and this is how the story starts…
Puerto Rico is a US territory with 3.2 million population, and has some of the most expensive and least reliable electricity of anywhere in the country. In Castañer where she lives, three or four times in a week power goes out. In 2017 Hurricane Maria left parts of the island in the dark for almost a year. Castañer went without power for eight months.
As if the money she paid for her electricity bill wasn't enough, it's also due to constant outages and voltage fluctuations she felt that she needed to do something big to solve this problem. That is when she decided to involve in community microgrid projects where she could produce and sell electricity to others. She mounted 51 solar panels on her roof feeding a bank of industrial batteries and inverters inside a beauty salon across the street. From there, the electricity was flowing to the US Post Office, an ice cream parlor, a private residence and an electric vehicle charger.
With this project she pays a fee for the flat of $771 while she used to pay more than $1,000 a month for electricity. Microgrids not only add a layer of redundancy to the system but are an effective way to pull in more renewable energy.
Imagine so many people are able to generate renewable energy in cities like Castañer, there would be no voltage fluctuations or power outages. So you can be an inspiration story also, why not?
Mmoja wa wauzaji wa mikate huko Puerto Rico aliamua kuzalisha umeme wake mwenyewe na hii ndio jinsi hadithi inavyotokea: Puerto Rico ni eneo la Marekani lenye idadi ya watu milioni 3.2 na ina umeme wa bei ghali na usioaminika zaidi nchini. Katika Castañer ambako anaishi, mara tatu au nne kwa juma umeme hutoweka. Kimbunga Maria kilifanya sehemu za kisiwa hicho kuwa giza kwa karibu mwaka mmoja. Castañer hakupata umeme kwa miezi minane. Kama kwamba pesa alizolipa kwa ajili ya bili yake ya umeme haikutosha, pia ni kwa sababu ya kukatika mara kwa mara na mabadiliko ya voltage alihisi kwamba alihitaji kufanya kitu kikubwa ili kutatua tatizo hili. Wakati huo ndipo alipoamua kushiriki katika miradi ya microgrid ya jamii ambapo angeweza kuzalisha na kuuza umeme kwa wengine. Mmoja wa waendeshaji wa nyumba hiyo aliweka paneli 51 za jua kwenye paa lake na kuunganisha betri na inverter za viwanda katika chumba cha kupendeza kilichokuwa karibu na nyumba yake. Kutoka hapo, umeme ulikuwa ukitiririka hadi ofisi ya posta ya Marekani, duka la aiskrimu, nyumba ya kibinafsi na chaja ya gari la umeme. Kwa mfano, kwa mfano, katika nchi ya Marekani, nyumba ya nyumba ya $ 771 inahitaji gharama ya $ 1,000 kwa mwezi kwa ajili ya umeme. Microgrids si tu kuongeza safu ya redundancy kwa mfumo lakini ni njia ya ufanisi ya kuvuta katika nishati zaidi mbadala. Kwa mfano, ikiwa watu wengi wanaweza kuzalisha nishati mbadala katika miji kama Castañer, hakutakuwa na mabadiliko ya voltage au kukatika kwa umeme. Kwa hiyo unaweza kuwa hadithi ya msukumo pia, kwa nini usifanye hivyo?