Yabucoa Community Flips the Solar Switch to Higher Energy Resilience
(Yubacoa, Puerto Rico) - Neighbors in Yabucoa’s Barrio Limones flipped the switch on a new renewable energy system today, boosting their community’s disaster readiness and reducing their energy-cost burden in Puerto Rico’s hurricane alley, thanks to a coalition of local leaders, nonprofits, and businesses, with support from renowned singer-songwriter Billie Eilish’s Changemaker Program.
“In 2017, our community center became a hub for disaster response. We distributed food and water, provided temporary housing, and even set up a makeshift hospital, but power was always the biggest challenge, since getting fuel was difficult and expensive," said María Ȧlvarez, a longtime resident of Limones, about her neighbors’ struggle to keep the lights on in the aftermath of Hurricane María.
“Now, that’s a thing of the past. With this new solar system, we will be able to respond faster, especially when it comes to our bedridden neighbors who are at higher risk when the storms come,” she emphasized about the effort’s guiding principles.
With support from Billie Eilish and her fans through Eilish’s groundbreaking Changemaker Program, a cross-sector coalition of local government, nonprofits, and companies assembled to equip the neighborhood with a 12-kilowatt solar array and a 40-kilowatt-hour Savant Power System, bringing its residents a step closer to long-term energy resilience.
“The Limones neighborhood, specifically the Martorell sector, and its community center, played a vital role in the recovery efforts following hurricane María,” Yabucoa’s mayor, Rafael Surillo Ruiz, explained about Martorell’s Community Center revamped role as the sector’s new renewable energy hub. “With this system, the center becomes even more resilient for all residents," he added.
GRID Alternatives, a nonprofit organization working across the United States and internationally to build community-powered solutions to advance economic and environmental justice through renewable energy, led the effort’s fundraising and project management.
“This is our first installation on the island. We hope to replicate this multi-sector approach to deliver renewable energy along with workforce development opportunities to more communities across the archipelago”, explained GRID’s Puerto Rico Regional Manager, Gabriel Pacheco, whose team brought philanthropic, equipment, and local installation partners into the coalition.
Through the Changemaker Program, Billie Eilish and fans who attended her most recent North American tour provided the critical funds needed to rewire the community center and line its roof with 35 solar modules to capture Puerto Rico’s year-round sunshine.
"Community-led renewable energy and resilience solutions are essential, and we are proud to support GRID Alternatives and the Martorell community to ensure that resilience, workforce development, and long-term access to clean power are achieved hand-in-hand with the community,” said Adam Gardner, REVERB Co-Executive Director. “Through our Climate Project Portfolio, we’re honored to steward Billie Eilish's Changemaker funds — and her fans’ generosity — into trusted partners doing this kind of transformative work.”
Rounding up equipment efforts, Savant, a global leader in smart home and smart energy, offers two scalable inverter and battery storage solutions for the commercial and residential markets. The Savant Power System 20 can be scaled up to 200 kilowatt-hours, while the Savant Power System 50 can be scaled to 500 kilowatt-hours. The company generously donated two Savant Power Storage 20 units capable of storing up to 40 kilowatt-hours of energy to support this project. Savant also deployed their Solutions Architect Bernie de Alva to help bring the Savant Power System online so the community center can be powered by stored solar energy after the sun goes down.
“Whether it's providing the center with day-to-day renewable energy and cost savings or critical back up power when an outage occurs, the Savant Power Systems will ensure that Yabucoa families benefit from the latest innovations in battery storage and control,” said JC Murphy, Chief Commercial Officer at Savant. “We’re honored to be a part of this special project and happy to donate our cutting-edge smart energy technologies that will help deliver energy resilience to a community in need.”
With funds and equipment at the ready, the team at Astrawatt Solar designed and installed the new renewable energy system, enabling the community to produce its own power, lower its energy bill, and protect itself against prolonged power outages.
“The system operates with three energy sources: the electrical grid, a solar-plus-battery system, and a backup power generator,” explained Leo Lebron, President of Astrawatt Solar. “From a resiliency standpoint, the solar and battery systems work together as the primary source, with the generator providing additional backup when needed. When the grid comes back online, the system resumes exporting excess energy, reducing the community center’s electricity costs.”
Astrawatt’s Solar Installation Technician, Ralph Rivera, was always the first one on site, eager to apply his recently acquired solar skills to help his neighbors in his native Yabucoa.
“My favorite task was installing the solar modules on the roof, connecting the photovoltaic strings, and making it all look organized and professional with cable management techniques I learned from my instructors at GRID Alternatives,” Rivera explained.
Just weeks before joining the installation team, Rivera graduated from GRID Alternatives’ IBT-120 Program, which has provided free hands-on solar installation training to more than 170 Puerto Ricans eager to kickstart their career in the solar industry since 2024, thanks to a generous donation from the Leon Lowenstein Foundation.
“Clean energy hubs like this show yet again why affordable, reliable and renewable power is critical to the people, the environment, and the economy of Puerto Rico. It's why projects like this serve as a model for communities everywhere”, Leon Lowenstein Foundation’s Executive Director, Stewart Hudson, underscored.
“We celebrate this great achievement for Martorell, but there are communities that may benefit greatly from this model all across Puerto Rico. If anyone can help these efforts, this is your call to do it,” said Ȧlvarez.
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About GRID Alternatives
GRID Alternatives is an international, U.S.-based 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that builds community-powered solutions to advance economic and environmental justice through renewable energy. GRID works in the U.S., Mexico, Nepal, and Nicaragua and has installed solar photovoltaic systems on more than 29,500 homes and affordable housing developments in underserved communities while providing more than 33,200 individuals with workforce development training. GRID also provides clean mobility solutions and battery storage and is a leading voice in low-income solar policy development in the U.S. Installation Basics Training (IBT), a competency-based certificate program designed to develop the skills most relevant to entry-level solar installation jobs and related construction employment fields. Trainees learn solar installation skills, OSHA 10 safety standards, first aid and CPR, and soft skills, including interpersonal communication and dependability, to help job trainees obtain and sustain employment.