Your Move, Elon.
Elon Musk,
I know you are balls deep in the Boring Company, and head over heels about dirt right now, but I would like to direct your attention to the opportunity that lies before you in Puerto Rico. Their shitstorm of an electrical grid causes problems on a windy day and has suffered more than its fair share of natural disasters lately. While the power is out, all suburban neighborhoods, condominiums, and hospitals are running on diesel-powered generators. How archaic.
Businesses will be closed for weeks (if not months) and people are without jobs. I would like to personally recommend that you get one of your fancy government grants, provide the island with solar power (there’s plenty of open space and sunlight), and offer the people a fair price to power their homes as they rebuild.
Not only that, you would also be creating jobs in a place that needs them desperately. The unemployment rate before Hurricanes Irma and Maria was staggering, and now people are left with even fewer opportunities.
With disaster comes fortune. You know investors will buy these vacant beachfront properties as soon as communications and commercial flights resume. Puerto Rico will once again become a tourist destination, and when it does, it should be running primarily on solar power. I am sure a lot more goes into it, and it’s not as easy as I’ve laid out in this letter, but I have faith that you’re capable of making change occur in a place that desperately needs it.
Warm regards,
Candice Galek
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UPDATES:
September 28, 2017: Within 1 day of posting my open letter (and weeks after the storms) Tesla has announced they will ship hundreds of Powerwall battery systems to Puerto Rican hospitals, and Elon Musk will donate $250,000. Bloomberg, Fortune, Tesla, etc. just announced this hours ago! https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-ships-powerwall-puerto-rico-restore-power/
October 6, 2017: The Governor of Puerto Rico is now urging Elon Musk to bring more solar power to the island. https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-10-06/storm-hit-puerto-rico-tweets-offer-elon-to-prove-battery-tech
October 25, 2017: Tesla Turns Power Back On At Children's Hospital In Puerto Rico https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/25/560045944/tesla-turns-power-back-on-at-childrens-hospital-in-puerto-rico
October 26, 2017: Hurricane Maria destruction moves Tesla to action https://theamericangenius.com/tesla-maria-power-grid/
December 5, 2017: Two months after the Governor got on board, six Tesla energy storage systems have been installed in Vieques and Culebra. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-05/more-tesla-batteries-plug-into-hurricane-wrecked-puerto-rico
November 2, 2023: Tesla launches large-scale Virtual Power Plant in Puerto Rico https://www.tesla.com/support/energy/virtual-power-plant/puerto-rico
Managing Partner Rising Phoenix Solar
6 年Candace I can genuinely feel your energy and enthusiasm jump right. Keep writing and I'll keep reading.
Inventor/Engineer @ ACCU911
7 年Candice ? Galek, I am Michael Swisher the Inventor of Smart Stripe in Austin Texas. Smart Stripe is a Constant HyperData platform built into the road striping system that has a fiber optic backbone that is capable of providing unprecedented data rates. One of the features of Smart Stripe is its designed for rapid deployment at a minimal cost compared to current cellular technologies. Smart Stripe has spoken to most of its suppliers and we are all interested in helping make this a reality. Smart Stripe is "The Actual Information Super Highway".
Senior Project Manager at Genentech
7 年Great thoughts Candice and kudos to you for putting them out there and to the folks for reacting or the coincidental timing, whatever works!! A little concerned about the Roof Tile idea, as there will eventually be more Hurricane force winds; don't want to create a future Risk factor even if it is in the spirit of giving, advancement and prosperity. Brilliant minds can find a way and people motivated for the common good is the greatest force on Earth (or Mars), right Elon!
SMA Section Supervisor/Supplier Quality SAM/DART Deputy SAM/Quality Engineer at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
7 年This is happening already.
Solar is critical but remember that at the current efficiency it is still less than practical in many parts of the US. More so in areas of the world that could benefit due to SMOG and smoke issues. Mr. Musk has also been doing incredible reseach on advances in fuel cells and batteries. When Aluminum oxygen or lithium oxygen batteries become as power dense as gasoline and as cheap to use over their life span we will see dramatic changes in fuel usage and the prevalence of hybrid and or electric cars.