Hi Serena, I moved recently to Puerto Rico (last year, just after the solar eclipse), where I'm working at the Arecibo Observatory. The first thing we planned after getting here was installing solar panels in our Casita, but the Hurricane Maria was fasters than us and suddenly the island became a mess. From September 20th to the end of November, we had no electricity in the house, because the electricity poles were still on the ground around the island and the power generation was not reestablished yet. How wonderful would be if we had solar power at that moment! At least, we had solar heaters for the showers, so as soon as we got water back in the house (few weeks after the hurricane), the solar energy helped comforting us by providing warm shower. That was incredibly important to keep the family in a good mood during that difficult
period of our lives. Putting solar pannels in our Casita is still in our to-do list, but first we have to find storm shutters! The next hurricane season is coming soon! Aiaiai, mamacita!

Hi Serena,

We looked into putting solar panels on our roof, but the orientation of it was not conducive to providing much power to our home. As efficiency continues to improve though, we will likely revisit that again. However, we do use solar powered lights around our yard and during the winter holiday season, I only use solar powered strings of lights to decorate the outside of our home. The awesome part about that is that I do not have to remember to turn them off before I go to bed (and my power bill doesn't spike)!