With a record deficit of 2,025 MW expected this Monday, the supply of photovoltaic energy is not reducing nighttime blackouts
14ymedio, Havana, March 2, 2026 — A new record for blackouts is expected this Monday in Cuba. The outage will again exceed 2,000 megawatts (MW), according to the report published by the National Electric Union (UNE), reaching 2,025 MW during peak hours. Given that only 1,185 MW will be available for a demand of 3,180 MW, this represents an unprecedented deficit of 64%.
In the midst of constant power outages, which exceed 20 hours a day in some parts of the Island, the National Union of Educators (UNE) has announced the sale of 800W solar panels for 75,000 pesos. The offer is only for “outstanding workers,” even though that price is more than 20 times the average salary of a state employee.
In a message posted on its official profile, the National Union of Educators (UNE) proudly announced the installation of an 800W photovoltaic module at the home of a retired Heroine of Labor (a 2003 recipient) in Artemisa. “The kit, priced at 75,200 pesos payable through various methods, includes six meters of cable and one connector; another connector and a double-edged blade will be purchased according to supply and demand,” the post detailed. Payment options included cash or card, as well as the possibility of “family support.”
The comments on the post reveal indignation laced with dark humor: “She won’t have enough time in her lifetime to pay for it.” Others point out that some of the “chosen ones” haven’t even been able to enjoy the privilege because they can’t afford it.
Even more outrageous is the advertisement from the Postal Service in Sancti Spíritus , which is selling solar kits to both individuals and businesses. According to a post on their social media, the most “basic” 5-kilowatt (kW) model costs 2,530,000 Cuban pesos, and the 12 kW model is nearly 4,895,000. Payment must be made entirely in Cuban pesos, either electronically or in cash.
State prices for these modules are three times higher than what can be purchased for similar systems on the informal market.
State prices for these modules are three times higher than what can be purchased for similar systems in the informal market, where, moreover, sales are not reserved for select groups within the population.
In Granma province, the program is already facing setbacks. An article in the official newspaper La Demajagua reports panels installed without available batteries, equipment with technical limitations, and cases of breakdowns for which the customer is ultimately held responsible: some beneficiaries are forced to continue paying fees exceeding ten times their monthly salary due to the installation of systems that don’t work.
Meanwhile, the official newspaper Granma celebrates the installation of 5,000 2 kW photovoltaic systems donated by China to “protect what is essential.” According to Elena Maidelín Ortiz Fernández, the head of the project installing the donated modules, 2,671 of these systems were allocated to “vital centers in every municipality in the country.” The purpose, she noted, “is not total self-sufficiency,” but rather “to guarantee the energy survival of these centers, which in turn contributes to the vitality of the municipality and the province.” The National Union of Electricity Workers (UNE) proudly highlights these installations on its social media profile, prompting protests from users about the repeated power outages in their areas.
Because of system installations that don’t work, some beneficiaries have to continue paying fees that exceed ten times their monthly salary.
Ortiz Fernández also emphasizes that this benefit will reach rural areas that have never had electricity. “If you install a 2 kW system for these people there, allowing them to have a refrigerator, a fan, a television, their lives will be completely transformed, and we will prevent them from having to leave their communities.”
The deployment of solar panels is officially presented as part of the energy transition in the face of the crisis and deterioration of the national electricity system; but access to domestic systems depends on an impossible ability to pay in a context of extremely low wages and constant blackouts.
Furthermore, the installation of solar parks, announced with Chinese contracts for 92 projects across the island, will not solve the energy shortage either. The limited output of completed projects suggests that the energy these facilities provide to the island will remain insufficient and restricted to the hours of sunlight.
While the official press boasts about donations and “energy resilience,” millions of Cubans continue to suffer basic needs as a luxury that costs more than they will earn in years.
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