IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2019 - 51

power system is controlled by one corporation. For the
final activity, most groups made drawings as part of the
poster session in Bayamón. The sun and the community
were the main elements of the drawings. Common elements included and presented in the posters were: the
need for education, the importance of a communitybased agreement that includes how the benefits and
responsibilities will be distributed, a clear vision, and
the key role of an administrator and a technical operator of the community project. These align well will the
ideal characteristics shown in Figure 3.

Ponce Colloquium (Southern Region)

among the posters included the need for community
training and education, having a clear vision and planning strategy, and the importance of broad community
member participation in all decisions such as determining the best approaches for operation and maintenance.
Similar to Bayamón, these Ponce participants reflected
in their posters similar preferences as those provided in
the written exercises (Figure 6).
To the authors' knowledge, this is one of the first
assessments of community perceptions in Puerto Rico

At the Ponce Colloquium it was suggested that the sys5%
tems should be adapted to the community's context
Just Utility
19%
and that private industry should not interfere with the
A Private Developer
34%
community system. Participants affirmed that solar
The Community
communities should not affect other DG programs,
Community and Utility
and that rooftop systems are preferred. The economic
Community and Developer
40%
benefit must be towards the common good of the comCommunity and Others
munity. Likewise, programs and regulations must be
flexible and for the benefit of the communities. When
contrasting Figures 3 and 6 it is important to point out
FIGURE 4. Management of the community energy project
(Bayamón).
that participants could select as many choices as they
thought matched their communities. A particular
respondent could choose many characteristics, or a
few, depending whether the description fit. The results
Community's Goals
(Aspirations)
showed that in Bayamon, the description suggested in
the assessment instrument better matched the particiCommunity's Values
pating communities than it did in Ponce. Unlike the
Community's
colloquium in Bayamón, the Ponce community leaders
Vision and Plans
were less open to collaboration with different sectors
Natural Surroundings
(contrast 66% in Figure 7 with 55% in Figure 4). FurCommunity's History
thermore, the Ponce group had a preference to execute
the project by themselves (45% of responses). They
0
5
10
15
20
emphasized the importance of learning and better
Nothing
Not Much
A Lot
understanding PV systems. Regarding ownership,
although they want to be majority owners, they were
FIGURE 5. How well a "solar community concept" matches
willing to partner with the credit union sector, the utiliaspects
of a community (Ponce).
ty, or with government agencies. Thirty eight percent of
the 78 participants had previously received infor mation
about energy efficiency and
Community as the Focus and Main Player
conservation, for example the
Support Training of Young People, Retraining of Adults
use of high efficiency equipDevelop Local Capacity and Opportunities
ment and solar water heaters.
Participants
Are Responsible for the Costs
The groups in Ponce listed in
the posters their ideal communiEconomically, Environmentally and Socially Good
ty-based energy project. Three of
Maximize Renewable Energy
the six groups made drawings,
Flexible, Allow Different Structures
most of them showing promi0
5
10 15
20
nently the sun as the main
resource, either providing energy or ideas. Common themes FIGURE 6. Ideal characteristics of the solar community program (Ponce).
SEPTEMBER 2019

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IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2019

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