Yudelaimys Barrero Muñoz used to spend up to three hours on the side of a highway under the blazing sun waving money at drivers as she attempted to hitch a ride from Cienfuegos, Cuba, to Santa Clara, where she buys supplies to resell and support her husband and two children. The 43-mile trip was impossible to make on her husband's bicycle—at one time the family's only mode of transportation—and later, with a rechargeable, three-wheeled vehicle whose battery didn't have the capacity for the round trip. Then, in early April, a local business owner opened what is believed to be Cuba's first solar-powered charging station—and it was free, reports the AP. Cubans soon flocked to the solar station—or "solinera" as it's known in Cuba—recharging everything from electric vehicles to UV nail lamps.
The Cuban government has stepped up the installation of solar panels in hospitals and other public places and established solar farms in the face of chronic blackouts and, in recent months, a severe gas shortage stemming from a US energy blockade. Renewable energy now accounts for some 10% of the island's electricity, up from 3.6% in 2024, but distribution remains limited and few Cubans can afford such a system. Because there is little gas for cars these days, Cubans are traveling miles to the Santa Clara solar station on rechargeable motorcycles and three-wheeled vehicles. Others walk to the station. They haul cellphones with nearly depleted batteries, rice cookers, pressure cookers—an endless array of gadgets, appliances, and vehicles that need power. "They have solved many problems for many people," Barrero Muñoz said.
She and her husband, along with their children, ages 3 and 4, drive regularly to Santa Clara now that they can charge their three-wheeled vehicle at the solar station. "If it hadn't been for this, I wouldn't have been able to keep selling," she said. Barrero Muñoz now buys rice, sugar, hot dogs, mortadella, soap, shampoo, deodorant and other items regardless of their weight, because it all goes into the vehicle instead of the two bags and a backpack she used to haul when she was forced to hitch a ride. "I have more clients because I have more merchandise," she said with a smile.
With nearly a quarter of a million people, Santa Clara is home to people like Danailys Arboláez Pérez, a 32-year-old mother of two who sells sandwiches, coffee, beer, and cigarettes out of her home. It's a short walk away from the solar station. "Almost everyone in this neighborhood goes there," she said. Arboláez Pérez has cooked rice and beans and even fried fish at the solar station, even when she has electricity, because she wants to save money on natural gas. She also recharges two fans that cool the rooms of her small children as Cuba's temperatures start rising, noting that power outages last year were "apocalyptic." She no longer has to jump out of bed when the power suddenly comes on, forcing her to cook or wash at 2am. "We're not running around so much," she said. "I cook slowly, calmly. ... If the power goes out, I'll just take the pot there."
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