Community Lighthouse Serves as a Solar-Powered Beacon of Hope During Natural Disasters
Climate change is raising temperatures and increasing the severity of storms; at the same time, the nation’s power infrastructure is aging and failing more frequently. It’s a deadly combination. When hurricanes strike, the power goes out, and it can take days, sometimes weeks, to restore power, while those with chronic ailments and the elderly die of heat exhaustion and inability to power medical devices. The state of Louisiana is working with Solar Alternatives to address this problem, creating shelters with reliable solar power through the Community Lighthouse initiative.
Community Lighthouse has already created a dozen solar-powered safe havens in New Orleans and three more in local Louisiana parishes. Locations such as local houses of worship and community institutions are being outfitted with solar panels and battery storage systems to provide enough power for air-conditioning and light medical equipment in the emergency event of a power outage.
The goal is to ultimately create 85 safe havens equipped with solar power that residents can reach within 15 minutes by car or on foot. The solar-powered resiliency hubs can provide long-lasting energy to power air conditioners, refrigerators, and freezers. The solar systems also can provide reliable stored energy for cooling, phone charging, communications, and meal preparation.
Tropical Storms Continue to Cost Lives
The New Orleans area has been plagued with increasingly severe storms. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed more than 800,000 homes, leaving more than 700,000 Louisiana residents without power. In 2021, Hurricane Ida left over a million customers without power, some for weeks. This year, Hurricane Francine left residents without power for two to four days across the city.
Hurricane Katrina was also responsible for 1,390 deaths, including 10 deaths due to the heat. Providing air-conditioned shelters through the Community Lighthouse program promises to reduce fatalities and provide relief from rising summer temperatures.
Generators used to be the only means to generate power during an emergency. The challenge with generators is they present several safety concerns, especially the risk of carbon monoxide buildup. Generators are also noisy, require maintenance, and emit greenhouse gases. Most generators aren’t rated for 24/7 operation, so they must be shut down periodically, Generators also need fuel to operate and frequent oil changes, which can be challenging when roads are closed and fuel is unavailable.
When Together Louisiana decided to launch the Community Lighthouse program, they recognized that solar systems were ideal to provide reliable energy during a power failure and, more importantly, were non-polluting.
Guaranteed Power in an Emergency
All the solar systems in the Community Lighthouse initiative to date have been engineered, installed, and maintained by Solar Alternatives Commercial Division. Together New Orleans reached out to Solar Alternatives to help develop the Lighthouse program. Solar Alternatives took on the challenge, building out the concept and assisting with budgeting, financing, regulatory concerns, grant applications, and presenting the idea to policymakers.
The first Community Lighthouse solar systems installed at the Broadmoor Church and Bethlehem Lutheran Church use 450W Canadian Solar panels, Yotta DPI-1200 microinverters, and Unirac SolarMount racking systems. Solar Alternatives also equipped each system with Tesla Powerwall 2 batteries for energy storage, a SPAN smart panel for load control, and two monitoring systems.
During a power outage, these systems can deliver up to 20kW of continuous power for up to 17 hours of reliable power. During normal operation, the solar systems will save between $168,000 and $178,080 over the life of the system, helping the hosts fund other projects. The system also reduces carbon emissions, offsetting as much as 33 acres of mature forest annually.
Other Community Lighthouse sites use a different mix of solar equipment, such as CurrentESS industrial microgrid systems, SMA inverters, Longi panels, Tesla inverters, etc., delivering up to ten times the amount of energy and energy savings.
A Model for Emergency Preparedness
The Community Lighthouse program is already being touted as a model for other communities. Solar-powered resiliency hubs can be installed in any area subject to storms or natural disasters that affect the power grid. The New Orleans initiative is the first to gain municipal and federal government support, including $4 million in federal funding.
Installing solar-powered emergency shelters encourages neighborhoods, businesses, and residents to consider solar power for cleaner, sustainable energy. The Community Lighthouse program demonstrates the savings from adopting solar power as well as the benefits of having independent power during an emergency.
The Community Lighthouse program is also creating new jobs. The solar sector is one of the fastest-growing industries, and the demand for solar installers is expected to increase by 48% between 2023 and 2033. There are an average of 4,100 new job openings for solar installers annually.
Organizations like Louisiana Green Corps offer students training and certification in green construction and conservation, including solar installation. Working on projects like Community Lighthouse provides hands-on job experience for careers in higher-paying, green energy jobs.
Solar Alternatives is committed to the ongoing support of Community Lighthouse and expanding the adoption of low-carbon, sustainable technology in the region. In addition to installing Community Lighthouse solar systems, Solar Alternatives is also responsible for operations and maintenance. Regular inspections ensure the systems deliver optimum performance.
The Community Lighthouse program also allows Solar Alternatives to work with Louisiana residents and educate them about the benefits of solar power. The program also helps create jobs, reduce carbon emissions, and promote more sustainable neighborhoods.