Elon Musk, Puerto Rico's Governor Discuss Tesla Building Solar Power Grid

Elon Musk says his company has built solar grids for smaller islands before and that Puerto Rico, which was devastated in the wake of Hurricane Maria, could have its decimated electricity infrastructure rebuilt with solar power.

And Puerto Rican government officials are listening.

The Tesla CEO and renewable energy entrepreneur was asked Thursday whether or not he could rebuild Puerto Rico’s electric grid with solar and battery systems. Musk responded on Twitter, saying Tesla could increase the scale of past solar projects in order to help the U.S. territory.

“The Tesla team has done this for many smaller islands around the world, but there is no scalability limit, so it can be done for Puerto Rico too. Such a decision would be in the hands of the PR govt, PUC, any commercial stakeholders and, most importantly, the people of PR,” Musk tweeted Thursday.

Tesla has touted its past powering of small islands including Ta’u in American Samoa, where the company installed a solar grid that has the capability of storing enough electricity to power the entire island even after three days without any sunshine.

At least one member of the Puerto Rican government is looking to take the SpaceX founder up on the idea. Ricardo Rossello, Puerto Rico’s governor and the president of the New Progressive Party, responded via Twitter later that evening to Musk’s general proposal.

“Let's talk. Do you want to show the world the power and scalability of your #TeslaTechnologies? PR could be that flagship project,” writes Rossello.

Musk later responded that he would be “happy to talk,” and hopes that Tesla can be “helpful” to the island where 95 percent of the electric grid reportedly went offline in the wake of hurricane Irma and Maria.

Puerto Rico has 69 hospitals in its health system, which medical officials told USA Today Thursday are on “life support.” Of those, 17 are connected to the power grid, and the rest are operating with generators, according to the office of Gov. Rossello. The island’s cellular system remains highly disabled, with just 14 percent of antennas and only 26 percent of cell towers being operational.

Musk’s Twitter conversation with Rossello is similar to his bet with Mike Cannon-Brookes, the co-founder of Australian software company Atlassian, in March. Musk claimed he could help solve South Australia’s power crisis within 100 days -- and Cannon-Brookes challenged how “serious” Musk was to help.

“How serious are you about this bet? If I can make the $ happen (& politics), can you guarantee the 100MW in 100 days?” asked Cannon-Brookes.

Musk responded: “Tesla will get the system installed and working 100 days from contract signature or it is free. That serious enough for you?”