POWER MULE - Solar Trailer Project
Rebuilding Resilience
Design Parameters
Our CSMG Power Mule Project (PMP) leverages community networks, resources and local talent to build a trailer-mounted mobile microgrid solar generator. The project incorporates:
An Islandable, Black Start Capable Microgrid
10.5 kw of Foldable Solar Photovoltaic Wings
Power Electronics
On-board Battery Energy Storage of 45-76 kWh
The PMP is designed for powering Community Resilience Centers, Food Banks and pop-up Medical Clinics that WNC needed during Superstorm Helene Rescue and Recovery operations. See video below.
Design Inspiration
On September 27, 2024, Hurricane Helene struck North Carolina mountain families and communities with unexpected force. Helene destroyed roads, bridges, cell towers and power lines, cutting off access, communications, and grid power in rural and small-town areas for weeks. Incredible strain was put on our communities' Critical Services. Fire and police services, medical services, food and water distribution, and supplies of backup power and fuel needed to meet our recovery needs were in shockingly short supply.
The catastrophic extent to which power delivery systems across WNC had been destroyed became evident after the flooding and high winds of Helene receded. There was great need for communication and Internet access, phone and laptop charging, well water pumping, refrigeration, lighting, and medical devices. Many responders jumped in to deliver Emergency power, much of which was supplied by solar powered battery systems.
Helene resulted in the loss of friends, neighbors and family members' lives. This is still keenly felt. Communities were swept away. Economic damages are still being suffered. As communities slowly recover, their plans for a better tomorrow are including system Resiliency and Preparedness. It was a lesson learned the hard way.
A community’s response capabilities, and its economic and job recovery capabilities, can be strengthened in part by creativity and entrepreneurship. The Power Mule Project is such an effort. We have designed a Mobile Microgrid Power System that protects community critical services and are harnessing the community spirit that served us so well in the aftermath of Helene, to rebuild resilience in WNC.
The Power Mule
Resiliency, Preparedness, Workforce Development, Local Mobilization & Open-Source Design
Distinctive Project Features
The CSMG Power Mule Solar Trailer Project offers an innovative design, unique features, a 4X trailer-mounted solar array, an open-source business model, technical education and professional mentoring for engineering students, and has a local WNC manufacturing partner. It also offers the following benefits:
The Power Mule trailer provides 2-3X the trailer-mounted solar array of other Solar Trailers.
A Power Mule is operational in less than 10 minutes after delivery and requires little expertise to operate.
The Power Mule eliminates exposed wires on the ground, and its solar array deploys and retracts with the touch of a button or by pre-programed windspeed level controls.
A CSMG Power Mule creates an emergency preparedness solution drawn from and tailored to a communities’ specific experiences and needs.
