I ran in to an old friend the other day who has been working in the solar industry for a couple decades.
He told me about this new business that he and some partners are starting. The business is the creation and deployment of vans and mobile shelters that combine both solar power and battery power.
Their ultimate goal is to have a product that the government or non-profits can deploy in emergency situations where people need access to emergency power. They are also marketing these mobile solar units to festivals, like Burning Man.
The business is called Rent.solar, and no, I’m not being paid to write about them. I just think what they are doing is innovated and could define the future of what we expect to see in places that need energy, or events that want to reduce their carbon footprint.
They describe these solar trailers and shelters as “nano-grid technology.
Well, I suppose that that a traditional gas generator could be described as “nano-grid technology”, too. But this is much more promising.
You can imagine a trailer pulling up to a disaster area, either packed with lithium ion batteries for emergency power, or also carrying refrigeration units that are powered by batteries and solar.
That can be a game-changer in how FEMA responds to some hard-hit areas.
It is tough to describe how much power they deliver. The average house needs about 3 to 4 kWs, for instance.
One trailer delivers only about that much. So, what good is it? Well, in a disaster situation, the use of power is much different. The trailer may power one piece of equipment that cools a large shelter where many people stay. Or, it may power medical services.
According to my friend, Lee, “Given the capital intensive nature of solar energy systems, we’ve adopted a cost-sharing approach to accomplish this mission by working with community partners who rent our solar trailers and shelters when they are not being used for this purpose.”
I was also impressed that this business started with one student, who was fulfilling a class requirement.
That gives me hope that the next generation will think more creatively about solving not only our climate change challenge, but also be able to deliver emergency services at the same time.
