Residents and businesses are installing solar panels to survive electricity shortages worsened by U.S. sanctions and declining fuel shipments.
Cubans are increasingly turning to solar energy on homes, shops, and even vehicles to cope with prolonged blackouts caused by severe fuel shortages. U.S. sanctions and a long-running economic crisis have left the Cuban government unable to secure sufficient oil, while recent reductions in shipments from Venezuela and Mexico have intensified electricity shortfalls across the island.
The Cuban government, aided by Chinese financing and equipment donations, has installed over 1,000 megawatts of solar capacity in the past year and aims to double this in the coming years. Meanwhile, private citizens have begun installing panels themselves to maintain basic services such as internet, phone charging, and household electricity during frequent outages. Solar installations, though costly, have become essential for many business owners and families receiving remittances from abroad.
Demand for solar has surged as diesel and gasoline for generators become scarce. Entrepreneurs view panels as a cleaner, more reliable alternative that reduces operating costs, while some individuals have installed panels on vehicles like tricycle taxis to extend travel without fuel. The government recently introduced tax incentives for private renewable energy projects, offering up to eight years of exemptions for business owners investing in solar infrastructure.
Despite these measures, solar remains out of reach for much of the population. The United Nations has warned that Cuba’s energy crisis could deepen an already severe humanitarian situation marked by shortages of food, fuel, and medicine. Russia is reportedly preparing to send crude oil to the island, but no timetable has been set, leaving many Cubans dependent on solar power to keep daily life running.
The Sri Lanka Guardian is an online web portal founded in August 2007 by a group of concerned Sri Lankan citizens including journalists, activists, academics and retired civil servants. We are independent and non-profit. Email: editor@slguardian.org
Your email address will not be published.




Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

by Our Foreign Affairs Editor “We need today to stop asking the victims to do more
Paramount Skydance’s audacious $108 billion bid to acquire Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has cleared a major
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has been thrust into the spotlight after reports surfaced of production outages
Four years before Vladimir Putin’s forces crossed into Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Western intelligence agencies
Mike Huckabee, the United States ambassador to Israel and former Arkansas governor, told podcaster Tucker Carlson
Axel Springer, the German media conglomerate behind Bild, Politico, and Business Insider, has thrown its weight
A former Google hardware engineer has been indicted on six theft-related charges for allegedly stealing trade
The tech sector in 2026 is being defined by a stark divide: semiconductor stocks tied to
OpenAI is preparing for an ambitious expansion, targeting roughly $600 billion in total compute spending through
Italian authorities have intercepted more than 1,000 tons of illegal textile waste as part of JCO

source