When Hurricane Maria hit the U.S. Virgin Islands–12 days after Hurricane Irma made landfall there as a Category 5 storm–thousands of solar panels were ripped off roofs and off racks in solar farms. The power grid was dead. But when a team of makers saw the broken panels, they realized that they could be hacked into something useful.
Halsey, who now runs a company teaching others to do the same type of work, traveled to the Virgin Islands in early October along with a crew from Field Ready, a nonprofit that that uses the tools of the maker movement, such as 3D printing, CNC machines, and Arduino boards, and tech know-how, to build solutions on site in disaster zones while people there are still waiting for traditional aid.
No one could charge cell phones, or use a modem to get online to reach relatives or register with FEMA. There was no light at night. But the team realized that by connecting the solar panels to 12-volt batteries from cars that had also been destroyed in the storm, they might be able to create solar-powered lights and phone charging stations. The idea went from a hypothesis to reality in half a day.
“We did an experiment with [a panel] that night, the next morning put it out in the light, and sure enough, it worked,” says James. “So we designed a whole program to put these damaged solar panels back into use.”
The team is now soliciting ideas for more solutions from the broader maker community around the world. A recent call to action outlines key problems. Residents need clean drinking water, for example, and the call to action outlines what they have: plenty of seawater, upcycled solar panels, and a handful of tools in a local workshop. In theory, someone will suggest a clever, low-cost solution for desalination.
The document also outlines other challenges–how to cook when there’s no electricity and little gas; how to safely store water, food, and medicine; how to make metal replacement parts without standard equipment; how to communicate when cell phone towers are down and internet access is sparse; how to clean and dry belongings that were trashed in the hurricanes; and how to control traffic when street lights are dead.
Field Ready is working with a local nonprofit called My Brother’s Workshop that has a maker space and an ongoing program to train at-risk youth. “If you imagine a maker space there, and then grassroots, ground-up teaching the population how to 3D print, and use CAD, and how to code and make the solutions that way, suddenly you’re a net positive post-hurricane,” says Halsey. “You’re providing an education, maybe spawning little micro-businesses, and potentially improving resumes. That’s the ultimate goal.”
The team is currently raising money for the work through a GoFundMe campaign, and after new solutions are proposed, plans to return to the Virgin Islands to work with locals to implement them.