Photo of the day: An Etecsa solar panel is stolen in Sancti Spíritus

Sancti Spíritus/It is not enough in Cuba to endure an internet connection slow, unstable and increasingly expensive. We also have to deal with blackouts that leave Etecsa equipment out of service and, now, with thieves who take even the solar panels installed to alleviate the disaster. This Thursday, the residents of Sancti Spíritus woke up to the news of the theft of one of this equipment in a small telecommunications center.

The affected facility serves the areas of Camino de Santa Cruz and El Chambelón. The Police went to the scene after learning of the theft, although so far there has been no report of the recovery of the panel. It is also not known how many users could be harmed.

The office is located next to the Central Highway, in the vicinity of the protected crops of La Quinta. The solar panels are mounted on a metal structure, within an enclosure delimited by a blue mesh fence.

In different parts of Sancti Spíritus, the state monopoly Etecsa has installed small photovoltaic systems to keep some of its services operational when the electricity supply fails. However, the battery life is limited and these devices also do not solve the usual problems of connection speed and stability.

“One in my area is the one that Nauta Hogar provides me,” he explains to 14ymedio a neighbor, according to whom the system can operate for just six hours without electricity. In the midst of prolonged blackouts, this autonomy provides relief, albeit temporary, for those who depend on the Internet to communicate.

Last March, Etecsa announced the installation of 17 two-kilowatt photovoltaic systems in different cabinets in the province, with which it intended to benefit some 15,000 landline and Nauta Hogar customers. Among the selected places was precisely the Camino de Santa Cruz. As the state company explained then, the batteries would provide five hours or more of energy backup, even at night.

The precariousness of telecommunications has even forced citizens to finance improvements that should correspond to Etecsa. Last July, residents of Zaza del Medio, also in Sancti Spíritus, They raised more than 10,000 dollars to install solar panels and recover communications during power outages.

This Thursday’s theft adds another threat to a service punished by breakdowns and lack of investment. In Sancti Spíritus, where the internet connection fails even when there is electricity, residents now depend on solar panels that are also not safe from thieves.