Solar companies are banding together to help restore electricity to parts of the storm-ravaged Puerto Rico.Solar supplies such as roofing, generators and lighting equipment worth about $2 million are expected to arrive in the territory. Most of that aid is coming from a national solar industry group, which is sending a plane to Puerto Rico with $1.2 million in supplies donated by its members. The Solar Energy Industries Association is "putting together people that have a product with people that have money, the group's president, Abigail Ross Hopper, told CNBC. More aid is coming from a new group called Light Up Peurto Rico that was formed in the days after Hurricane Maria tore through the island. Light Up Puerto Rico will send about $700,000 in supplies by Oct. 15, the group said. Light Up Puerto Rico is led by two Puerto Ricans, Jorge and Carilu Alvarado, whose local connections will allow the group to distribute aid efficiently, according to Jarem Hallows, who is working with the organization. Solar will be particularly useful in Puerto Rico because it can begin powering homes and businesses before the territory is able to rebuild its electric grid, a project that could take months. In the meantime, solar generators can serve as a stop-gap that won't require costly diesel."Everything is needed down there, but we are trying to help out in a unique way," said Brad Creer, president of New Star Solar. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a solar entrepreneur better known for his work on electric vehicles and spacecraft, has also jumped into the fray, posting a message to his Twitter account Oct. 5 saying it would be feasible for Tesla to rebuild Puerto Rico's electric grid. Tesla has built electric systems on other islands such as Kauai and American Samoa, though those projects were built for far smaller populations than Puerto Rico. Last November, Tesla purchased solar company SolarCity for $2 billion. Musk later unveiled a new solar rooftop project the entrepreneur said would make solar roofs that are comparable in cost to nonsolar roofs. An increase in the amount of renewable energy produced in Puerto Rico could theoretically reduce the amount Puerto Ricans pay for electricity by a dramatic amount.
