COMMITMENT TO ACTION
Powering the Río Piedras Market
Commitment by The Solar Foundation
In 2018, The Solar Foundation and their partners including the Municipality of San Juan, the Clinton Foundation, and others committed to install a solar + storage system to address the need for reliable, resilient energy at the Plaza del Mercado de Río Piedras in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The market is the largest produce market in Puerto Rico, and provides livelihoods for nearly 200 vendors who operate small businesses at the market. Since Hurricane Maria, the insecure energy situation in Puerto Rico has undermined these vendors' ability to do business, leading to product losses and reduced customer numbers. To address this issue, the commitment partners, with support from the Hispanic Federation and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, will install 250kW of solar power on the market, along with a 500kWh battery, to ensure the market's ability to operate fully despite interruptions to grid power. To increase the efficacy of the system, the partners will also perform energy efficiency upgrades, such as replacing the market's energy-intensive lighting system with LED lighting. This commitment is part of the Solar Saves Lives initiative, launched in November 2017 to support the mobilization and delivery of solar + storage solutions to Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria.