Darkened Homes and Electric Cars: Snapshots of Inequality in Cuba

In Cuba, the energy crisis is creating sharply different daily realities. People with money are turning to solar panels, electric motorcycles, and imported electric cars, while much of the population spends long periods without electricity and struggles to meet basic needs.

Photographs taken in Havana between July and August show a barber continuing to work during a blackout by the light of a mobile phone. For many Cubans, carrying out ordinary tasks in darkness has become routine. The report says the tightening US oil blockade has lengthened power cuts, while Cuba’s economy contracted by more than 15% between 2020 and 2025.

A report published this year by the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights says 63% of households have difficulty buying essential goods. Some residents describe the divide with bitter sarcasm: “Cubans are divided between those who can afford a solar panel and those who cannot.”

The state electricity company, Unión Eléctrica de Cuba, has launched a program to install 5,000 donated two-kilowatt photovoltaic systems across the country. The systems are intended for every municipality, with special attention to isolated areas. Yet much of Cuba continues to go dark amid repeated collapses of the national electricity system.

The crisis is also hitting tourism. Airlines have cut frequencies or suspended routes, and 419,863 international tourists visited Cuba between January and July, 37.2% fewer than during the same period in 2025, according to the National Office of Statistics and Information. Many businesses in Havana have suffered, although elite bars and restaurants still attract customers with greater purchasing power. At bakeries, meanwhile, long queues have become common, as some people buy bread in bulk to resell it door to door.

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Cubans are divided between those who can afford a solar panel and those who cannot.