When Hurricane Helene knocked out the power to over 1.5 million homes, restoring electrical service was an extraordinarily difficult task in many areas. Heavily wooded mountainous terrain made the job a challenge from the start. However, thanks to groups like the Footprint Project, solar power is becoming an affordable way to get the lights back.
When the power goes out, it takes out more than just the lights. It takes out power for refrigerators to preserve food and medicines and for essential medical equipment. People are forced to turn to gasoline-powered generators but even these come with challenges. They are loud, pollute the air, and are expensive to purchase and run, especially since getting fuel for them can be hard for remote communities.
For Bobby Renfro who had set up a resource hub for impacted residents north of Asheville, the generator he used was annoyingly noisy but that was only part of the problem:
Much worse is the cost: he spent $1,200 to buy it and thousands more on fuel that volunteers drive in from Tennessee.
Turning off their only power source isn’t an option. This generator runs a refrigerator holding insulin for neighbors with diabetes and powers the oxygen machines and nebulizers some of them need to breathe.
The Footprint Project’s mission is to “break the negative feedback loop of responding to climate emergencies with fossil fuels,” greening disaster relief so that communities hit by a natural disaster can survive and are more prepared and resilient afterwards. They worked with a local solar installation company to deliver a solar generator. Once operational, the solar array is silent and provides free electricity for locals while they wait to be reconnected to the power grid.
When disaster strikes, solar power is rapidly becoming an important part of keeping communities safe while they wait for help to arrive. From powering the relief efforts of first responders to keeping refrigerators and medical equipment working, distributed solar installations can literally save lives.
