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Church In New Orleans Establishes its Own Solar-Powered Electricity Resilience Hub (theguardian.com) 58

Posted by EditorDavid from the seeing-the-light dept.
Back in 2021 Hurricane Ida knocked out power lines in New Orleans, leaving parts of the city in darkness for 10 days.

So a coalition of community-based organizations (including some churches) decided to build "solar-powered disaster response hubs that could transform the city's approach to resilience," reports the Guardian. So far there's seven, but the group "has ambitions to build dozens more." On a bright, balmy autumn morning a couple of weeks ago [61-year-old pastor Antoine] Barriere climbed a long, steep ladder to show me the 460 solar panels that now cover a third or so of his church's flat roof. The solar panels were generating more than enough energy to power Household of Faith, a non-denominational megachurch with 4,000 mostly Black parishioners in New Orleans East. Downstairs, a cabinet was stacked with backup batteries that were fully charged in case of a power outage — a frequent occurrence thanks to the low-lying city's vulnerability to hurricanes, thunderstorms, high winds, extreme heat and flooding. In a worst-case scenario — no sun, thundery dark skies and power outage — the backup batteries could power essential appliances for a couple of days including the water heater, five commercial fridge freezers storing perishables for the weekly food pantry, and air conditioning for the vast main hall which could be converted into a dormitory-style shelter.

But on this brilliant cloudless morning, most of the solar-generated energy was going into the city's electric grid. New Orleans' one-for-one net metering scheme allows the church to offset its excess clean energy against the utility's dirty energy, and this should become a net zero facility within 12 months... The idea is that each community lighthouse should be an institution locals already know and trust — such as a place of worship, health clinic or community centre — that can be converted into a resilience hub where people can converge during a power outage to get cool, recharge phones, have a meal, connect to a medical device or store medication that requires refrigeration such as insulin. In addition, community lighthouses will be able to keep the services running that people rely on such as the food pantry and religious sermons, while also adding capacity to the city's wider emergency-response efforts as a distribution hub, shelter and possibly even house a makeshift clinic.
Thanks to Slashdot reader Bruce66423 for sharing the article.
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Church In New Orleans Establishes its Own Solar-Powered Electricity Resilience Hub More

Church In New Orleans Establishes its Own Solar-Powered Electricity Resilience Hub

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  • *sigh* (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Gravis Zero ( 934156 ) on Sunday December 03, 2023 @01:05PM (#64051063)

    Look, I'm no genius but I think helping people move out of a tropical storm zone that is below sea level would be more effective. We need to move people away from the coasts because nobody there listened to past climate warnings.

    • I think they understand the danger, honestly. I don't think anyone there feels trapped. It's not like it's Ohio.

    • Re:*sigh* (Score:5, Informative)

      by MacMann ( 7518492 ) on Sunday December 03, 2023 @01:46PM (#64051145)

      Look, I'm no genius but I think helping people move out of a tropical storm zone that is below sea level would be more effective. We need to move people away from the coasts because nobody there listened to past climate warnings.

      I'm reminded of an article that covered some of the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku tsunami, in that article they pointed out an ancient marker from an earlier tsunami. The marker was a monument to those washed out to sea and as a high water mark warning for future generations. It turns out the 2011 tsunami got no higher than the marker for the last big tsunami that hit the area. Buildings below the marker were destroyed, and those above the marker were not damaged.

      I remember talking to someone that grew up in North Dakota, or if I recall incorrectly it was certainly somewhere in the Midwest USA, and we were talking about flood management. This was because we were experiencing flooding at the time. Where he grew up there was apparently something of a fight about developing an area around a river that ran through a relatively large city (as in relative to the Midwest, not all that big compared to the coasts) where the area was designated off limits from development. The area was off limits because there was a big flood some time ago and to avoid putting future structures and people at risk the area was considered off limits for new construction.

      We are having some of that here, areas deemed off limits because of flooding but fights to develop this property due to proximity to large populations. People naturally settle around water because water provides a cheap and easy means to move people and cargo. This goes double if the water nearby is freshwater since with minimal processing to filter out some bits floating in it this water is suitable to drink. Then there's the opportunity to get the water to do work if it moves fast enough and/or has some minimal drop in elevation over distance. Most any kind of heavy industry likes large bodies of water nearby as the water can be used for all kinds of chemical processes on an industrial scale, as well as provide cooling for (or perhaps heating in some places) for factories and such.

      It will be difficult to move people from the coasts because we use water for so much. Seawater isn't suitable to drink so the attraction over finding water to drink isn't so high, though with enough cheap power available desalination can be cheaper than piping in water from some place else. The sea is great for bringing in large ships, industrial cooling, and people like to go surfing and swimming in the sea (which I guess is kind of cooling on an industrial scale).

      The best we can do is warn people on where the high water mark is for things like hurricanes and tsunami. That doesn't mean we don't build along the coast, but it does mean that if we build on the coast then build in ways that allow for rising water. It looks like around here those that build along the river are slowly adjusting to the idea of flooding being something to be dealt with more wisely. No longer are valued records kept in basements, but they are on the third floor or something. The lower levels are getting converted to parking lots and conference rooms. If a conference room gets flooded then there's a loss of some furniture and A/V gear but that's far less expensive to replace than offices, data servers, and backup generators.

      Oh, right, wasn't there some big deal about flooded backup generators in Japan in 2011? I believe that one mistake created a very large and expensive mess.

      • The best we can do is warn people on where the high water mark is for things like hurricanes and tsunami.

        Have you ever visited Hawai'i? It's not uncommon there to see lines painted on the walls and windows of buildings with dates to mark the high-water line of former floods and/or tsunamis. Do people avoid building in the historic flood zones? Of course not; the markers are just there as records, not as warnings.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by hey! ( 33014 )

          People -- or at least the insurers they need to get a mortgage -- absolutely do pay attention to flood maps. There's a big financial difference between building in the 50 year flood zone and in the 5 year flood zone.

          • I'm sure they do. However, these high water marks are from tsunamis, which aren't exactly predictable events. It's rather like the signs you'd see on buildings with bomb damage in London during the Blitz: Business As Usual.

        • Have you ever visited Hawai'i? It's not uncommon there to see lines painted on the walls and windows of buildings with dates to mark the high-water line of former floods and/or tsunamis.

          I'll see marks like those on the walls of businesses that were flooded. One restaurant has a mark painted on one of the large windows in front. They also have photos of the flooded dining room hanging on the walls, and some other things that demonstrate the damage. I remember a park that had marks on a tree to show how high different floods got over the years, some of the marks had to be about 20 feet above the ground.

          Do people avoid building in the historic flood zones? Of course not; the markers are just there as records, not as warnings.

          They serve both purposes. In one part of town it was occupied by many small houses, ea

      • Once again, we (resident here) are solving a 10 day problem with a 5 day solution. IDA took out most of the solar infrastructure when it came through. 5 days of batteries would be nice... if they survive.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        It wasn't the flooded generators that doomed Fukushima Daiichi. It was the initial tsunami surge water. They actually had pumps on site in plenty of time to avert a meltdown, but because the control and monitoring systems were damaged and physically inaccessible, almost all of the cooling water that was pumped in was diverted to storage tanks without anybody noticing.

        Arguably better training might have helped, but with a damaged plant and darkness making assessment difficult, it was pretty much inevitable a

    • A refusal to be defeated by the growing threat to a city whose persistence is dependent on massive taxpayer subsidies. As we are reminded by this Monty Python scene it seems to be human nature to fight what the planet throws at us

      https://youtu.be/aNaXdLWt17A [youtu.be]

      but that doesn't make it rational!

    • Look, I'm no genius but I think helping people move out of a tropical storm zone that is below sea level would be more effective. We need to move people away from the coasts because nobody there listened to past climate warnings.

      How is that going to send a giant FU to nature? Instead of leaving, just build hot dipped rebar reinforced concrete pilings 40 feet down and start the house 20’ up from ground level, or higher if necessary. Rate everything to withstand cat 5 hurricane winds and debris with storm shutters even for solar panels and reinforced everything. Get a generator and supplies to last off grid. With construction like that worst case if the ground washes out you just boat in.

      What do mean it’s too ex

    • As frequency of events increases evacuation becomes less viable. You end up with too many false alarms, and the distance you need to travel from New Orleans to get to safe ground is substantial. But hey, I put my money where my mouthpiece is and gave some cash.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by sjames ( 1099 )

      And they'll use money to move and set up a place to live from where?

      There's a reason most of the people needing help after a recurring disaster are very low income.

      • Any resident living below sea level and unemployed has the ability to move, they should be encouraged to do so, and employers should be encouraged to move above sea level, allowing their employees to live above sea level.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by sjames ( 1099 )

          So if they're employed?

          And if unemployed, where do you suggest they migh be able to afford to move to and how will they transport their meager belongings?

      • And they'll use money to move and set up a place to live from where?

        A "Solar-Powered Electricity Resilience Hub" isn't free. Seriously, why did you ask something so obvious?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by sjames ( 1099 )

          So you advocate that someone should steal the solar panels and sell them for money to move? What about the rest of the people there?

          I'll bet the resilience hub didn't cost nearly as much as moving everyone in the area would.

    • Will members of the community have access to row boats to get to this 'resilience hub' to charge their iPhone while they sit on their roofs waiting for their rescue?

      Is this 'hub' located on higher-ground so the basement full of food in solar-powered fridges won't be underwater when the area floods?

      Why do we (taxpayers) continue to provide funds to rebuild homes & businesses below water level?

      The solution to chronic flooding isn't a place to charge your smartphone from a solar panel array, it's relocatio

      • You seem lost old man. You're responding to my comment which argues the same point.

      • While sometimes there's flooding, hurricanes here are more about the wind damage and consequent power loss. Providing a place to recharge electronics and sit in the AC for a while is actually a useful convenience (and potential life saving for some as mentioned in the article). For all the awful things churches do, this really isn't one of them.

        As for relocating: leaving aside the ethics of moving people from their homes, I"m not sure anyone's figured out how to relocate the ports and oil refineries to a

  • Are they hurricane resistant? (Score:3)

    by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) on Sunday December 03, 2023 @01:09PM (#64051071)

    I really don't want to pick on people trying to improve their community, but while solar panels themselves can do surprisingly well in a hurricane that doesn't help much if they're ripped out because they're mounted in a way that allows wind to catch them. Beyond that, battery backups for 'a couple of days'? That is wholly insufficient. Power was out for weeks after Katrina.

    I would say that if you're really looking for disaster support during a similar disaster, what you're really looking for is the ability to safely store a lot of water prior to a predicted event, the ability to filter more water as required, and the ability to store human waste until sewer service can be restored. And it might be nice to have some food and cots, too.

    Pretty much you want a survivalist bunker that can support however many people you want to support for a few weeks. Add a helipad and a deployable floating dock for emergency services to get to you, and you're set.

    But all that is far more expensive and that's the reason there aren't already buildings like that in place and being maintained. Even if you use it as a community centre or something, you're still going to have a lot of trouble paying for it.

    • Beyond that, battery backups for 'a couple of days'? That is wholly insufficient. Power was out for weeks after Katrina.

      So what you're saying is, the batteries are only good to get them through a short power outage, and would have run down before the power was restored after Katrina and that therefore they're a useless waste of money, right? Of course, that's assuming that the sky was constantly overcast during the outage so that there was nothing for the solar panels to use, which may or may not be tru

    • Usually a couple days after the storm passes the clouds will abate enough to allow for usable production, and within 4 days you are likely to be close to full production again.

      Diesel generators might be a good idea to bridge an extra day or two, but the combination is pretty reasonable.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      A few days of power, plus in-going solar generation, would be very helpful in an emergency. That gives emergency services time to get generators on-site, and continues to supplement them.

      As things like this develop, I can see entire small communities going off grid. It just won't be worth it for them to pay the connection fees, when they can operate a micro grid themselves.

  • Before solar power was a viable option for power to lighthouses, and after many technological leaps during World War Two, many nations would use radioisotope thermoelectric generators for electricity. Using RTGs for powering lighthouses wasn't routine, it was reserved for remote unoccupied lighthouses.

    I can recall photos of Puerto Rico after a hurricane moved through and seeing all kinds of busted up solar panels. There were plenty of destroyed windmills too. This metaphorical lighthouse they built could

    • A direct hit is one thing, but secondary effects from a hurricane a few hundred miles away can still be a disaster.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hey! ( 33014 )

      This metaphorical lighthouse they built could see the same fate if hit by a hurricane.

      True, it *might*. But once you move even a little way inland it's not the wind that's killing people. It's the flooding. And in a *huge* hurricane like Katrina it's the aftermath that kills -- the breakdown of systems and the disorderly evacuation. In Katrina, nearly *half* the deaths were from untreated medical conditions like heart disease.

  • Installed solar panels on a church in Honduras years ago that had no power. It's not on the map and requires driving through 3 rivers from the main road to get there. Panels charge a battery and run lights and fans. They're way off the grid.

  • a non-denominational megachurch with 4,000 mostly Black parishioners

    In an article about technology, why does race have to be mentioned? Don't get me wrong, I come from black ancestry, but I don't see the relevance.

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