"SANTA CLARA, Cuba — Yudelaimys Barrero Muñoz used to spend up to three hours on the side of a highway under the blazing sun waving money at drivers as she attempted to hitch a ride from Cienfuegos, Cuba to Santa Clara, where she buys supplies to resell and support her husband and two children.

The 43-mile (70-kilometer) trip was impossible to make on her husband’s bicycle — at one time the family’s only mode of transportation — and later, with a rechargeable, three-wheeled vehicle whose battery didn’t have the capacity for the round trip.

Then, in early April, a local business owner opened what is believed to be Cuba’s first solar-powered charging station — and it was free. Cubans soon flocked to the solar station — or “solinera” as it’s known in Cuba — recharging everything from electric vehicles to UV nail lamps.

The Cuban government has stepped up the installation of solar panels in hospitals and other public places and established solar farms in the face of chronic blackouts and in recent months, a severe gas shortage stemming from a U.S. energy blockade."

Dánica Coto and Andrea Rodríguez report for the Associated Press May 6, 2026. [2]