Cuba has been without power for hours at a time, repeatedly and severely, since late 2024. Rolling blackouts lasting 18 hours or more have become normal for the island's 11 million people. In March 2026, the power went out across the entire island for 29 hours — Reuters reported — and in some parts of Havana, the blackouts have stretched to a full day at a time, with the government now rationing power officially, AP reported in May 2026.

Why The Power Plants Can't Keep Running

Cuba's power plants need oil to operate, and they have stopped getting it. Most of that oil came from Venezuela, a neighboring country. The United States has been actively blocking those shipments as part of decades-long economic sanctions against Cuba. In May 2026, Cuba's president said the country had gone three months without any oil from Venezuela, per CNN.

But this is not just about what is happening right now. For decades, U.S. sanctions have prevented Cuba from buying new equipment or parts to fix and upgrade its power plants. Many of those plants are old and falling apart. Venezuela itself has serious money problems, so even when shipments do arrive, they are unreliable. The government in Havana has tried for three years but cannot fix the problem on its own. The electrical system was already weak before it ran out of fuel.

One specific example shows how bad it is. Cuba's biggest power plant, in Santa Cruz del Norte, kept the lights on there for three whole months while everywhere else had blackouts, AP noted in February 2026. This tells us that if you generate power locally, you do not depend on the wider grid failing.

Solar Panels: A Grassroots Fix

Cuba started building large solar farms in early 2025. The first of 92 planned solar parks opened on February 21, 2025, Reuters reported. By the time of the big March 2026 blackout, these solar farms were providing about a third of the electricity during daylight hours. Solar and other renewables went from 3.6% of Cuba's total power in 2024 to 10% in 2025, Yale Climate Connections reported.

But Cubans are not waiting for big government projects. Starting in early 2026, ordinary people began putting solar panels on roofs, storefronts, and even on top of vehicles, Reuters documented. When the March blackout hit, some traffic lights and small shops with their own solar panels kept working while the rest of the city was dark, Reuters reported. For people who have panels, life is very different — they can keep food cold, stay lit at night, and charge phones when the grid fails.

But not everyone can afford panels. Many Cubans have gone back to cooking with charcoal and heating with wood, NBC News reported in May 2026. This is the way people lived before electricity existed, and it brings real problems in cities where so many people live close together.

The Problem That Panels Cannot Solve Alone

Solar power helps, but it cannot fix everything. Solar panels only work during the day and when it is not cloudy. At night and in bad weather, they produce nothing. The island does not have batteries big enough to store daytime power for use at night. Power plants that run on fuel can work 24 hours a day, but Cuba does not have reliable fuel and cannot afford to fix its old plants. So right now, the country is trying to run two power systems at the same time: a broken centralized grid and a patchwork of small solar installations that is growing but is not enough.

For the power shortage to end, Cuba would need either new oil shipments or a political shift with the United States — neither of which looks likely soon. Solar is the one thing the government can build on its own, but to go from 10% to a fully stable grid would take equipment and money that sanctions make very hard to get.

After three years, Cuba's blackout crisis has no clear end. Solar panels are helping some people survive the outages, while others are turning to older, simpler ways to cook and stay warm.