![]() ![]() ![]() Not only is she providing her fellow Zambians with much-needed electricity, but Tembo also feels empowered. Tembo makes sure that her neighbors and local businesses are provided energy tailored to their needs. Members of Tembo’s community can purchase electricity from her. This is especially apparent in the story of Regina Tembo, a Zambian woman who is the manager of her local micro-grid. And the simple act of providing a community with electricity can be hugely empowering. With electricity, people can run more efficient businesses, provide better health care and improve education for citizens. Access to electricity can be viewed as a stepping stone to lasting development. By 2020, that number is expected to more than double. This means that 53 million people have access to electricity today who did not have access prior to the launch of the initiative. So, far Power Africa has added 7,200 megawatts of energy. investors and supporting job growth at home.” business growth in Africa, Power Africa has a hand in developing multi-million and billion dollar projects that are producing returns for U.S. More specifically, as Power Africa notes in its annual report, “Applying U.S. taxpayer dollars and creating jobs here at home. ![]() These partnerships help to further African development while saving U.S. Power Africa works to facilitate private sector transactions and cultivate optimal investment climates. These goals are achieved through partnerships with American private businesses. Power Africa has the goal of adding over 30,000 megawatts of clean energy capacity to African homes and businesses. Power Africa, an initiative started by the USAID, is working to change this. In places like South Sudan, that percentage skyrockets to 97 percent. Within the entire continent of Africa, 57 percent of people have no access to electricity. Nevertheless, the plan is still in its embryonic stages and there is much more discussion that must take place before Tesla can spring into action. Musk has, however, pointed out that any efforts made in solar power installation in Puerto Rico “must truly be led by the Puerto Rican people.”Īfter weeks of recovering from the devastating effects of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, however, Musk’s comments about not only bringing power back to Puerto Rico but reinforcing it both ecologically and structurally to withstand future storms, are ideas welcomed by many. government has had a dubious past with intervening in Puerto Rican affairs, including early testing of birth control pills on women. Of course, Puerto Rico’s population of three million is far more than Ta’u’s modest population of less than 600, and therefore rebuilding the Puerto Rican infrastructure is a far greater task to undertake. The island, known as Ta’u, not only managed to switch over completely to an extremely eco-friendly energy source but did so in the aftermath of a Category 5 hurricane – and the solar panels in place on the island have been specially built to deal with such powerful winds and flooding. “The Tesla team has done this for many smaller islands around the world, but there is no scalability limit, so it can be done for Puerto Rico too,” wrote Musk on the social media site.īut are Musk’s goals realistic, or even possible at all? According to National Geographic, a solar panel-based subsidiary of Tesla – SolarCity – managed to single-handedly switch a small island in American Samoa from diesel fuel to solar power. However, the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, has recently stated on Twitter that there may be a possibility of Tesla bringing power back to Puerto Rico. Tesla is primarily famous for its manufacturing of electric cars and spaceship equipment (through its sister company, SpaceX). However, Puerto Rico may have found an unlikely ally: Elon Musk’s Tesla Corporation. Needless to say, bringing power back to Puerto Rico is no small task. Not only was Hurricane Irma also followed by Hurricane Maria, another devastating storm, but the disaster response from the White House has been rather slow to provide relief, during a time when over one million people are struggling with – or even entirely incapable of – accessing electricity. Towards the end of this past summer, a series of hurricanes swept across the Caribbean and Southeastern U.S., damaging communities in Houston, Miami and – in particular – Puerto Rico. ![]()
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