US Solar Is the Best Solar PV Equipment Distributor in Caribbean

There are 3 primary factors that determine whether a market is ripe for solar energy:

  • The amount of sunshine (insolation)
  • The price of grid electricity
  • The price of solar (parts and labor)

[Some could argue that incentives play an important role as well.  I agree.  But government support in the form of taxes, credits, rebates, and net metering simply influence the primary factors above].

So why hasn’t the Caribbean taken its rightful place in the global solar boom?  After all, countries like Jamaica, the Bahamas, and the Dominican Republic:

  • Have enviable, year-round sunshine
  • Carry crippling trade deficits in imported oil (i.e. grid electricity)
  • Enjoy the same access to affordable solar parts as everyone else

You’d think that these countries would be world leaders in solar development. And yet, the Caribbean still lags behind more developed markets like Germany, Ontario, and Japan.

Answering (and addressing) this discrepancy has been our mission at US Solar over the past 7 years and why we have become so well know for providing both solar “Parts and Smarts”

Why Global Panels for the Caribbean Market Don’t Work

The Caribbean has the same access to affordable solar components as every other market in the world.  And that’s the problem.

The panels one might use in Ontario or California are often a poor choice for tropical environments.  Countries like Jamaica and the Bahamas must deal with year-round salty humidity, equatorial sunshine, and hurricane winds – challenges that very few solar panel manufacturers factor into their designs.

This is why we’ve spent the last 7 years designing pre-engineered solar PV systems able to withstand gale-force winds and to prevent salt erosion.  We actually custom designed these units for our customers throughout South Florida so expanding our distribution network throughout the Caribbean was an obvious choice.

This commitment to “Solar Parts” for the Caribbean market has had a tremendous impact on the region’s growth.  For the first time ever, residents can finally benefit from affordable pricing, consistent payback periods, and complete confidence that their systems will continue delivering uninterrupted electricity for decades to come.

But “Solar Parts” is only half of the equation.

Training a Green Caribbean Workforce – “Solar Smarts”

As relative newcomers to the solar revolution, the Caribbean doesn’t have the same training infrastructure, safety codes, and energy regulations that more established markets have.  Consequently, they’ve historically lacked the requisite workforce to get panels on rooftops.

But this is changing – quickly.

US Solar has a long history of receiving international students at our Fort Lauderdale, FL campus.  And in recent years, the majority of these students have come from nearby Jamaica, the Bahamas, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic.

But as impressive as this influx of new students was, it represented only a trickle – a tiny catalyst for jumpstarting sustainable solar development.

We decided to overcome this hurdle by expanding our Department of Education (DoE) licensed solar training courses abroad.  In the past year, we’ve erected a satellite campus in Kingston, Jamaica – with many more US Solar schools scheduled for the future.  In other words, we’ve taken the education directly to the Caribbean, ensuring greater access to the most comprehensive solar training program in the industry.

The Upshot of our Solar Parts and Solar Smarts Initiatives

The results have been amazing – for nearly everyone involved:

  • Aspiring solar installers no longer have to pay for flights and hotels in order to receive expert, real-world training.  The courses come to them.
  • We benefit from higher enrollment numbers and unparalleled distribution (most US Solar alumni choose us as their primary supplier because they’re already familiar with the technology, and they know that our systems work).
  • Residents throughout the Caribbean now have access to the affordable solar parts and labor they need to wean them selves off of expensive grid electricity.
  • And obviously, the environment benefits as fewer communities power their energy needs with dirty fossil fuel.

It’s been an exciting time, but we still have a lot of work in the weeks and months ahead.  Our mission doesn’t end until every rooftop in the Caribbean is outfitted with affordable solar technology installed by highly qualified professionals.

If you’d like to join us in this mission and to discover for yourself why:

US Solar Is the Best Solar Energy Equipment Distributor in the Caribbean – use the links down below to find out more:

  • For pre-engineered solar PV systems designed for Caribbean climates, click here.
  • To receive DoE-licensed solar PV installation training in Florida or in Jamaica (click here).
  • To contract our expert solar PV engineering and consulting services, click here.