Tesla Restores Power at Puerto Rico Children’s Hospital
Tesla has successfully managed to restore the power to a children’s hospital in Puerto Rico. By using its batteries and installing solar panels, the company has helped a large number of children who are still suffering from the two powerful hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico in September. Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk has called this one of the many upcoming projects that are going to go live on the island.
The collaboration started when Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello tweeted on October 6 that he was talking with Musk and the teams were getting ready to start the project. On Tuesday, Tesla also posted some images from the hospital’s parking lot where the team was installing the solar panels. This month, Musk also tweeted that the company was altering some of its work to increase the production of batteries. This way, Puerto Rico and many other affected areas will receive the help they need.
Restoring power to a children’s hospital
Hospital del Niño is first of many solar+storage projects going live. Grateful to support the recovery of Puerto Rico with @ricardorossello pic.twitter.com/JfAu11UBYg
— Tesla (@Tesla) October 24, 2017
Thanks to this project’s solar array, the hospital will now have all the energy it needs. Currently, it houses 35 permanent patients who are suffering from severe chronic conditions. About 3,000 other young people receive help from the hospital. As for the price of the power system, it seems like for now, it’s a donation. However, after the crisis will pass, Puerto Rico and Tesla are going to strike a deal.
Una gran aportación de @Tesla para el Hospital del Niño. pic.twitter.com/fwbO5Jlo23
— Ricardo Rossello (@ricardorossello) October 25, 2017
Still, the island is still struggling with its lack of power. Many people are still only relying on generators. On Wednesday, the Electric Power Authority announced that its power service was at only 25%. To rebuild a new power grid for Puerto Rico will take months and will reportedly cost about $5 billion.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, also sent balloons from the Project Loon to help people reconnect to the phone system.
Image source: wikimedia
