
Tesla Powerwalls and Solar Panels Sent to Puerto Rico - Caveman_Coder
https://cleantechnica.com/2017/10/01/tesla-powerwalls-solar-panels-sent-puerto-rico/
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Caveman_Coder
"Bloomberg reports that Tesla is sending hundreds of its Powerwall battery
systems to be paired with solar panels. The joint systems will help the
battered island territory restore electric power."

At least people won't have to wait for the PR electric grid, both the
transmission and distribution systems, to be rebuilt. This should have a
definite positive impact and hopefully save some lives.

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jmadsen
I know this is pretty much a silly thing to be saying & just wishful thinking
on my part, but...

Many places like large swaths of Africa and Asia skipped building much of the
traditional landlines and went straight to cell phones.

With so much of the electric grid literally wiped out, wouldn't it be cool to
see them rebuild in a more future-looking fashion with many of the ideas
around solar & community batteries, rather than a traditional grid?

As I said, I know that's not terribly realistic...unless Elon wanted to have a
laboratory and made some big donations to prove a point. It is the kind of
thing he is known for, for reasons different than most people realize (unless
you read that fascinating article about him from last year).

Interesting to discuss, anyway, so go for it.

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rtkwe
A big problem is that the island is already under a large debt load and
doesn't have a lot of financial tools that municipalities would normally use
to get out from under debt.

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crb002
The lack of mosquito nets is getting bad.

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Theodores
I presume they will be working with some officials to put these in to some key
infrastructure, not handing them out to people who literally have nothing. So
who gets them first and is there a key quantity needed to restore power to
some sector of society?

I think the trick is for people in areas hit by climate change to put these
things in before rather than after the catastrophe, hopefully Peurto Rico can
be better prepared for the next one. Powerwalls might become a key part of
disaster recovery, if not the most important part.

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daenney
> I presume they will be working with some officials to put these in to some
> key infrastructure, not handing them out to people who literally have
> nothing

You don't need to presume, it's stated in the article:

The company has employees on the ground to install them and is working with
local organizations to identify locations.

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myrandomcomment
Wonderful. Very supportive.

Would love an answer on timeline when I placed my $ down months ago for my new
roof... before you say I am an asshole...

I really am happy that they are doing this. I am big fan of Mr. Musk. and all
of his vision and forward thinking. The idea that the human race has someone
that has read The Culture and had the brains, money and ambition to try to
sort for that helps give me faith that my children might have a good future.
However would love to hear a bit more status updates from them for those that
sign up and write checks. More communications would be rock star. The fact
they did this came from HN and not feom Tesla saying hey guys... heck I would
write a check for more if they setup a charity to help here.

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toomuchtodo
Keep in mind that the energy storage products are built in Reno, NV and the
solar tiles are produced in their Buffalo, NY solar gigafactory.

Tesla still sells regular ol' solar panels, which is likely the product being
deployed to Puerto Rico (not the tiles).

