Casa Pueblo is pleased to share “After The Dark”, a new short documentary directed by Ryan Ffrench about the growing movement to rebuild Puerto Rico’s energy grid with solar.  We hope this film will help steer the Post-Maria conversation towards positive energy solutions for our island, rather than merely looking back on what has been a difficult time for the people of Puerto Rico.

“Hurricane Maria has demonstrated the necessity of moving away from the centralized fossil-fuel utility system,” explained Arturo Massol-Deyá, Executive Director of Casa Pueblo.  “This is our moment to collectively embrace the energy resilience and self-sufficiency provided by renewable energy sources like solar. The people of Puerto Rico are ready.”

“After The Dark” was produced in collaboration with Google Earth Outreach, in support of Google’s Project Sunroof, an online tool that uses aerial mapping technology to calculate solar potential of rooftops.  “Casa Pueblo has demonstrated how solar power can improve people’s lives during power outages,” said William Rucklidge, Chief Engineer of Project Sunroof.   “I hope that Project Sunroof is able to help more people install solar and together move Puerto Rico forward into a cleaner, more resilient, energy future.”

Casa Pueblo is excited to be collaborating with innovators to change the energy status quo. “Project Sunroof is a powerful tool that will empower the people of Puerto Rico to take their energy future into their own hands,” said Arturo Massol-Deyá. “We are not waiting around for this historic energy transition to come from the top down. We are going to free ourselves from fossil fuels at the grassroots level, from the bottom up.”

Casa Pueblo is leading the #50ConSol (‘50% With Sun’) movement to rebuild Puerto Rico’s energy grid with 50% solar energy by 2027, the ten year anniversary of Hurricane Maria. “We need a clear alternative vision to fossil fuels, a path to sustainability. ‘50% with Sun’ drives Puerto Rico towards energy self-sufficiency, which is critical for our island, but also for the rest of the globe,” said Arturo Massol-Deyá. “We plan to show the world that the transition to solar is possible, right now.”

About Casa Pueblo

Casa Pueblo is an environmental nonprofit that has been advocating for solar energy for twenty years. After Hurricane Maria knocked out the energy grid in Adjuntas, we were pleased to learn that our solar grid survived fully intact, allowing us to become an energy oasis for the community. Since Hurricane Maria, we have installed more than 100 solar projects across rural Puerto Rico. We are based in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico.