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Power Earth United States

Solar Power Brought by Volunteers to Hurricane Helene's Disaster Zone (apnews.com) 74

Posted by EditorDavid from the bringing-the-light dept.
Bobby Renfro spent $1,200 to buy a gas-powered electricity generator for a community resource hub he set up in a former church near hurricane-struck Asheville, North Carolina. He's spending thousands more on fuel, reports the Associated Press — though he's just one of many. Right now over 500,000 people are without power in Florida, according to the PowerOutage.us project — with more than 9,000 in Georgia, and over 17,000 in North Carolina" Without it, they can't keep medicines cold or power medical equipment or pump well water. They can't recharge their phones or apply for federal disaster aid... Residents who can get their hands on gas and diesel-powered generators are depending on them, but that is not easy. Fuel is expensive and can be a long drive away. Generator fumes pollute and can be deadly. Small home generators are designed to run for hours or days, not weeks and months.

Now, more help is arriving. Renfro received a new power source this week, one that will be cleaner, quieter and free to operate. Volunteers with the nonprofit Footprint Project and a local solar installation company delivered a solar generator with six 245-watt solar panels, a 24-volt battery and an AC power inverter. The panels now rest on a grassy hill outside the community building. Renfro hopes his community can draw some comfort and security, "seeing and knowing that they have a little electricity." The Footprint Project is scaling up its response to this disaster with sustainable mobile infrastructure. It has deployed dozens of larger solar microgrids, solar generators and machines that can pull water from the air to 33 sites so far, along with dozens of smaller portable batteries.

With donations from solar equipment and installation companies as well as equipment purchased through donated funds, the nonprofit is sourcing hundreds more small batteries and dozens of other larger systems and even industrial-scale solar generators known as "Dragon Wings."
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Solar Power Brought by Volunteers to Hurricane Helene's Disaster Zone More

Solar Power Brought by Volunteers to Hurricane Helene's Disaster Zone

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  • Better than nothing (Score:4)

    by sonoronos ( 610381 ) on Monday October 14, 2024 @03:00AM (#64862545)

    The cost and availability of generators must really be an issue if the only alternative is 1.5kWh of 24VDC solar. Just enough to keep the lights on (literally).

    I think itâ(TM)s a good idea, if nothing else, like the kind of thing you would find powering a bathroom on a campground. Powering water pumps and LEDs for example. There are a lot of scenarios where you need a little bit of electricity without having to feed it a constant amount of fuel.

    The hyperbole about generators in the article is stupid, however. Generators are critical to survival in disasters just like this.

    • Re:Better than nothing (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Morromist ( 1207276 ) on Monday October 14, 2024 @03:35AM (#64862617)

      I've lived in places without power for many months in freezing climates where there was no plumbing and, honestly, it wasn't hard if you are half-way prepared, which florida residents ought to be by now. In fact it was quite an enjoyable way of life. What do you need generators for that is critical to survival? You can charge up your phone with a tiny solar panel, you can hand-filter water if you're dumb enough to ride out a hurricane without storing any.

      • Re:Better than nothing (Score:4, Insightful)

        by jonwil ( 467024 ) on Monday October 14, 2024 @03:46AM (#64862637)

        This is in North Carolina. How common are hurricanes up that way? How reasonable is it to expect people up that way to be prepared for a hurricane?

        • Re:Better than nothing (Score:5, Interesting)

          by jhoegl ( 638955 ) on Monday October 14, 2024 @03:52AM (#64862643)
          flooding, its flooding that is the problem in the Catskills, not a hurricane.

          They werent prepared, because they are poor areas up there mixed with rich areas. Ironically I was looking at houses up in the mountains because of the likelihood of this happening was low. But decided not to because infrastructure was weak, which is what we are seeing now. The more remote a location from sources of water, electricity, and internet the worse it will be during a catastrophic event, not even talking about healthcare access.

          • If you're up in the hills, though, you're probably not flooded, so you can have stored water. A few IBC totes' worth would keep you going for days or weeks. On the other hand, your house could landslide away, or be slid upon, so you do have to choose a well-sited property.

            For floods, you're better off in the hills, for quakes you're better off in town, for fires nothing will help except for defensible space which can be hard to come by in either location. Tornadoes are unpredictable wind-wise, but often com

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Zak3056 ( 69287 )

              If you're up in the hills, though, you're probably not flooded

              Eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina are in the mountains and flooded thoroughly during Helene.

            • the flooded areas up in the mountains of NC are valleys in the mountains, veritable bowls, hence the flooding that they are no having to deal with the aftermath of.

        • Re:Better than nothing (Score:5, Informative)

          by Morromist ( 1207276 ) on Monday October 14, 2024 @03:57AM (#64862649)

          According to this random website NC is the 3rd most hurricane hit state in the US. I wouldn't have guessed that, I would have thought like 12th or something. The 1st is FLA and the 2nd is Texas apperently. Why NC is hit by more hurricanes than LA? It doesn't make sense but apperently its the case. It might be that NC isn't known for hurricanes because they aren't as big as the ones that hit FLA?

          https://universalproperty.com/... [universalproperty.com]

          This site says its the 4th most hit

          https://www.finder.com/home-in... [finder.com]

          • Re: (Score:3)

            by Entrope ( 68843 )

            North Carolina has a lot of coast, and people who live on and near the coast are reasonably prepared for hurricanes. Those hurricanes don't usually dump feet of rain in the mountains, though.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by chill ( 34294 )

            NC sticks its butt into the Atlantic Ocean and frequently gets spanked. Take a look at the current patterns and you can see why most anything moving up the east coast of the US is going to run smack dab into NC.

            https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/ocean/primary/waves/overlay=significant_wave_height/orthographic=-75.36,37.58,2280 [nullschool.net]

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by EvilSS ( 557649 )
            A lot of storms coming in from the Atlantic side tend start following the east coast around north Florida then slam into SC/NC where they jut out into the Atlantic. Storms that cross Florida can also pick up strength and head that way if the conditions are correct (Charlie in 2004 did this). Storms hitting Florida along the panhandle also tend to follow a path up to the Carolinas (Helene this year for example, although the eye didn't go over the Carolinas the storm was so damn big it didn't matter). If you
        • Not hurricanes, but it's the mountains. Plenty of ice storms, thunderstorms and snow storms to cause trouble.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by sg_oneill ( 159032 )

        Thats fine if your fit, young and well prepared. What happens if your elderly and have kidney disease and need access to regular dialysis. This is not as uncommon as you might imagine thanks to the american food manufacturers habit of putting hfcs and sugar in almost everything with 1 in 7 americans facing kidney disease. Without dialysis you die. Without refrigeration, diabetics start to die cos insulin doesnt last long outside of a fridge. Eventually food turns rotten and people start shitting themselves

        • If you must have power to live because of medical needs then you should get emergancy power equipment. If you think I was saying that people who need power to survive don't need power then, well, I don't know what to tell you.

          But most americans aren't diabetics. No food will not rot without refrigeration for years and years if you get the right kind of food. No, you don't need to worry about water supplies if you properly filter your water with a non-powered filter and have a water source relatively nearby,

          • A generator lasts about 4 - 6 hours depending on the size.

            Clearly not a solution here. And most pensioners , particularly disability pensioners, making up the bulk of said medical device requirers , do not have the resources to just fork out for "just in case" energy generation paraphenalia.

            Your not thinking this through.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gtall ( 79522 )

        Sure, as long as you are not reliant upon powered health care equipment.

      • Keeping medicine cold, as noted in the article? Oh, and the story is about NC, GA, and TN - the residents of Asheville, NC, for example, aren't "used to hurricanes" being hundreds and hubdreds of mikes inland from the gulf or ocean, but hey, thanks for dismissing their concerns.

        So they generate about 1.5KW of electricity for what, 12 hours a day? And the other 12 hours is covered by a battery of what capacity? If it was 18-20 KW capacity they would have 1.5 KW available 24 hours a day, but I doubt the donat

        • I currently live in a place where the only real disasters are very unusual earthquakes. I still have a small cache of emergancy supplies. Its not expensive, doesn't take up much room and they can double as camping supplies. If you live in a place like Ashville, GA, TN everyone should have this stuff. Water filters are so good and cheap its ridiculous anyone able-bodied has problems getting water in an emergancy unless they live far away from a water source. And getting a backpack and walking a few miles wit

      • And what was the population density in your freezing climate place? Did you have whole towns and tens of thousands requiring proper sanitation in warm, even hot hot weather where microbes readily breed? Or was it just you or maybe a few dozen people with maybe 5 or 10 people per square kilometer who could shit in a hole in the ground and then it froze? Tell us something with parity and you will have some credibility. But right now you sound like a deluded wanker trying to cherry pick some edge case that won

        • How do personal generators help with sanitation? Do people start pooping on the streets when the power goes out where you live? If your toilet is somehow connected to your houses power supply and won't work otherwise there are plenty of options (albiet less pleasant). You can go without a shower for a few weeks and not die. Why are you so mad about this and calling me a deluded wanker? Go outside and, yes, touch some grass.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by dryeo ( 100693 )

            If you are on a well, it needs power to pump the water. I've lived in such places and when the power went out, no water to flush the toilet. Luckily I lived close enough to a creek, so hauling a bucket of water to flush, while some work, was doable, especially as you only need to flush after taking a crap or a lot of pees. I did have a neighbour who had a septic field up hill from his house and dependent on a pump, can't flush then unless you have a generator.
            For washing, you can have a good enough sponge b

    • it is not just that generators are hard to come by, it is also the fact that gasoline is as well.
  • It is not like the story says a number of over 500,000 people out of power but it is customers which depending on the power company is essentially meters out of power which typically measures the number of both households and businesses not the number of people. With household sizes averaging more than one for a lot of areas minus businesses that typically ends up a much higher number of people without power, depending on the area.

  • FEMA being threatened by "law and order" group (Score:5, Informative)

    by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Monday October 14, 2024 @06:46AM (#64862927)

    At a time when every ounce of help is needed. those professing to want "law and order" are now threatening FEMA employees who, *checks notes*, are helping people devastated by Helene.

    Multiple reports [newsweek.com] are coming in from North Carolina [cnn.com] of roving bands of "militias" threatening FEMA employees for doing their jobs.

    An official with the U.S. Forest Service, which is supporting recovery efforts along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), sent an message to numerous federal agencies at around 1 p.m. on Saturday warning that FEMA has advised all federal responders in Rutherford County to "stand down and evacuate the county immediately," The Washington Post reported.

    National Guard troops had come across two trucks of "armed militia saying they were out hunting FEMA," the email said. "The IMTs [incident management teams] have been notified and are coordinating the evacuation of all assigned personnel in that county."

    We all know who is behind this. No point sugar coating it. The convited felon is doing his best to kill Americans then blame it on someone else.

    • My kid (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Surak_Prime ( 160061 )

      My grown kid is currently there with FEMA and was put on lockdown this weekend for a while because of it, and now they've relocated where they will be working out of.

      I try not to discuss politics at all with my Cheeto-Hitler-worshipping dad, but he got notification of this one as a comment on one of his lying $750 for survivors vs $5000 for migrants posts this morning. So I expect to be incommunicado with him for a while again (if not permanently because of his age), because he's chosen Trump over us before

      • If he does talk to you and this happens to get mentioned, be sure to remind him these terrorists are the ones preventing help from arriving. Let him explain how threatening or trying to kill federal employees doing their job to help people is a good thing.

      • Whomever modded me down as flamebait, if you see this: FUCK YOU and your lying treasonous cult leader and anyone else spreading lies and endangering people trying to help hurricane victims. Is that flamebait enough for you?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Teun ( 17872 )
      a well-regulated militia...
      Yeah right.

      • a well-regulated militia...

        Yeah right.

        You will note, the North Carolina governor has not called out the milita to respond to these terrorists and either arrest or kill them. Silence is acceptance.

    • At a time when every ounce of help is needed. those professing to want "law and order" are now threatening FEMA employees who, *checks notes*, are helping people devastated by Helene.

      Those FEMA bastards! How dare they, *checks notes*, do their jobs and help people in need. We don't need that garbage, we got people in need here! Waaaait a second...

  • Can't charge their phones? (Score:3)

    by CEC-P ( 10248912 ) on Monday October 14, 2024 @08:28AM (#64863123)
    I've tested a bunch of sub-$20 solar panels that go straight to USB via an onboard, waterproof buck converter. They tend to top off at 7 watts but that'll charge a phone in a day or less. If someone doesn't even have that, are they even trying?
  • The article reads more like an advertisement then it does an actual news article. Six 245 watt panels is 1.47 kW, a tiny fraction of what a normal house gets, I use to sell nothing less than 5.4 kW when I sold solar because any less and I would get complaints that the panels weren't doing enough and their electricity bill was still way too high. So this might be enough to keep a few phones charged or power a wifi router and hotspot, and that 24v battery might keep everything running overnight, but you're

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