Black Rock Solar

Black Rock Solar

Jeremy Faludi
January 16, 2008 11:01 PM

Ever heard of someone donating a 90-kilowatt solar array? Ever heard of them doing it over and over, and inviting you to help? Meet Black Rock Solar, a child of Burning Man's Black Rock City that plans to make a difference in the rest of the world.

Burning Man is known for being a huge party out in the desert. For those who know it better, it's also a utopian community based on ideas like the gift economy. For those who have been watching these last few years, its utopian dreams have started to spill out to the rest of the world. First was Katrina relief, which expanded to become Burners Without Borders. Then there was the attempt to get people thinking about sustainability this past year, with 2007's Green Man theme. Now, there is the nonprofit org Black Rock Solar. According to executive director Tom Price, "Our goal is to build 500KW of low or no cost solar power for schools, hospitals, and community centers across Nevada in the coming year, and are looking to other places with strong rebate incentives, like Boulder and Austin as well."

Black Rock Solar is a direct offshoot of Burning Man 2007's "Green Man" theme. One of the biggest initiatives of 2007 was getting the Man and the pavilion below it to run entirely off of solar power. But what would happen to the solar panels after the festival was over? How about giving it away to the tiny town nearby? Paul Schreer (a.k.a. Blue), a Burning Man employee and volunteer organizer, emailed that "Rod Garret, Black Rock City Designer & designer of all of the Man Bases... actually conceived the idea to gift the array during talks that took place at First Camp in August 2006". Last December, it actually happened.

Out in the desert, Gerlach and Empire, Nevada, are the two closest towns; their combined population is just 500 people. Black Rock Solar's December press release said the 90 KW array installed at Gerlach's school will produce an estimated 162 megawatt-hours of electricity each year for the next 25 years. This is nearly all the school's power, and the energy saved should equal $20,000 per year--with just 83 students, that's about $240 per student per year.

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