IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2019 - 52

regarding community microgrids and solar communities.
The assessment had diverse representation from over fifteen residential communities, which were geographically
diverse as well. All exercises were carefully planned not
only to encourage active discussion, but also to have
quantitative metrics that can be used to evaluate community perceptions and preferences regarding community
energy projects. These results are evidence of the quality
of the engagement with community members. Furthermore, the results were used by the social science students to guide their literature search and analysis by
creating a profile or set of preferred structure or direction
that came out of the community members participating in
the colloquia. This is discussed next.

Principles Relevant to Solar Communities
The colloquia showed similarities and differences
between venues. Factors that might explain the differences include: demographics, previous experiences with
the utility (positive or negative), and perceptions about
renewable energy. However, the local context seemed to
be a critical factor in selecting specific courses of action
when organizing community-based DER alternatives.
Regardless of the differences, there are energy strategies
that could be similar among communities. Based on the
findings from the colloquia, studying reports from previous students working in community projects, collaborating with engineering students, and interacting with
leaders from a specific community in Southern Puerto
Rico, the social science students identified possible practices that they believed were a good fit to face the challenges of building a solar community.

Community Organization
Dealing with a community-based project can be difficult
when multiple stakeholders are involved. Potential problems include difficulties in reaching minimum consensus, lack of trusted partners with project-related
expertise, and opposition from government decision/
policymaking entities that oppose grassroots movements. A key issue is to set and communicate realistic
2%
Just Utility

10%

A Private Developer

The Community
45%
37%

Community and Utility
Community and Developer
Community, Academia,
and Utility

FIGURE 7. Management of the community energy project

(Ponce).
52

expectations for the project or initiative. If typical pitfalls
are addressed, or at least acknowledged, community
energy efforts should yield positive sustainability and
resiliency outcomes, while increasing the chances for
local socio-economic development.
Most community-based projects already have an
advantage over individual approaches because they
usually possess common characteristics that people in
a community or multiple communities can identify with.
The organization and execution of a plan can mean the
success or failure of any project. This is very important
to highlight because there are multiple social factors
both internally and externally that affect the outcome of
any community-based initiative. The internal aspects of
community organization are a fundamental pillar to
hold the plans that can help the communities improve
their well-being. There are three key aspects that act
as a starting point: sense of community, social capital,
and empowerment.
Sense of community is the feeling that one belongs
and that one is a meaningful part of a larger collective [19]. Sense of community relates to the sense
that although there may be conflict between the
needs of the individual and the collective, or among
diverse groups within the collective, these conflicts
must be resolved in a way that does not destroy the
psychological sense of community. In many places in
Puerto Rico the sense of community was strengthened after Hurricane Maria, which has clearly demonstrated that the island's residents are vulnerable in
various ways, including the electrical infrastructure.
Small and medium size communities organized themselves after the hurricane in support of one another,
working together, sharing resources and helping each
other with their needs.
Social capital on the other hand is a mix of social
values and norms that help people in a community to
have effective teamwork and coordination for mutual
benefit [20]. Teamwork is a critical skill that must be
developed in order to work effectively in any community
scenario, especially if we are dealing with projects that
require the active participation and cooperation of the
people involved. One solid example is controlling the
demand response in a community grid when the energy
generated is less than the demand. Most people in Puerto Rico tend to have an energy inefficient lifestyle. This
is an issue that can be partially addressed by changing
household items but there must also be a change in
energy use patterns. There must be a set of rules that
people agree on beforehand to properly manage local
resources that are not individually-owned but collectively managed.
Empowerment includes making people more aware
and encouraging participation by giving them the

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

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SEPTEMBER 2019

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2019