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The capital's municipality of Plaza de la Revolución will soon have a solar charging station, popularly known as a "solinera", which will be located at the intersection of 23rd and J streets, in front of El Quijote park, in Vedado, as reported on Saturday through its Facebook profile by Canal Habana.
The facility is currently in the process of being enabled and has been visited by high-ranking government officials, including Esteban Lazo Hernández, President of the National Assembly of the People's Power; Liván Izquierdo Alonso, First Secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party in Havana, and Governor Yanet Hernández Pérez.
According to the report, the project is designed to serve at least 30 electric tricycles dedicated to the collection of solid waste in 14 districts of the Rampa Popular Council, in order to contribute to cleaning and sanitation efforts in that area of Vedado.
Vehicles will be able to recharge their batteries using solar panels installed at the station, allowing them to make multiple trips throughout the workday. Additionally, the charging station will provide service to the general public and nearby local businesses, the source emphasized.
The context driving this initiative is critical, as only 44 out of the 106 garbage collection trucks in Havana were operational in February 2026, which necessitated the reorganization of 72 electric cargo tricycles to replace them in solid waste collection.
The solar installation at 23 and J joins a growing trend across the island as a decentralized response to the collapse of the National Electric System (SEN).
The term "solinera" is a Cuban neologism that combines "solar" and "gas station," reflecting the magnitude of the energy crisis the country is facing.
Cuba inaugurated its first solar charging station on April 5 in the Virginia neighborhood of Santa Clara, operated by the Gomate Local Development Project, featuring 56 solar panels, 30 kW of photovoltaic power, and 60 kW of battery storage, and it was built in just nine days.
In early May, authorities in Matanzas announced the installation of nine solineras at various locations in the province, aiming to allow the public to charge devices and even cook.
The energy crisis driving these solutions worsened since January 2026, when Venezuela suspended crude oil shipments and Mexico cut its oil exports.
The SEN has experienced eight total collapses in just 18 months, with blackouts exceeding 24 consecutive hours in several provinces.
Cuba needs between 90,000 and 110,000 barrels of crude oil daily, but its domestic production barely reaches around 40,000, a gap that no single solution can bridge on its own.
As noted by a resident of Santa Clara following the opening of the first station of its kind, the need to charge a phone or cook outside the home is real and urgent.
"It is an important step, but there is still a long way to go to solve the energy problem in the neighborhood; hopefully this is the beginning of more projects like this, because the need is great and power outages continue to be very bothersome," he said.
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