Distributed Power

The frequency and severity of disasters is increasing worldwide. Timely access to electricity during these disruptions is critical. 

Natural disasters – such as Caribbean hurricanes – cost thousands of lives and billions of dollars every year. 

Distributed Power is a new essential for the humanitarian sector. 

We are a social enterprise on a mission to empower a network of resilient communities with new opportunities – by providing clean, critical power to those that need it, and the education and future skills to operate such green tech - both before and during a crisis.

Our solution includes the traditional deployment of shipping containers with portable electric generators and solar panels – for disaster situations.

But power isn’t just electricity distributed in shipping containers; it is also an opportunity to improve lives and communities. Distributed Power can enhance community capacity, empower locals (particularly women and youth), and encourage entrepreneurial resourcefulness. Distributed power.

Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of disasters worldwide. Portable Electric produces a range of electric power stations, including a rapidly deployable modular solution to immediately power critical infrastructure and communities. This addresses social disruption, provides a renewable alternative to noxious gas/diesel generators, and creates new opportunities for sustainable initiatives with local economic and cultural impact.

The opportunity in shifting from power generators that are loud, noisy, heavy, dangerous, toxic, and fuel-supply dependent to ones that are clean, quiet, portable, and renewable isn't just huge in terms of environmental benefits. It is a game-changer for the humanitarian sector and community-based resilience.

We hope to find ways that locals – particularly women and children – can, in the interests of resilience and recovery, be part of the procurement chain and benefit financially by distributing and/or maintaining our power stations. We envision our organization facilitating a global network of communities and entrepreneurs using clean, portable energy for public events, education initiatives, local industry, and private sector collaborations, not just in crisis situations.

These previously marginalized people can now be trained in how electricity works, how solar energy is collected/stored, and how to build a business around a renewable power source.

At the community level, we intend to focus on serving women and teenagers to in turn serve their immediate communities when a disaster strikes. As key influencers, they can help evangelize the merits of clean energy, spread the word about emergency preparedness, and demonstrate enthusiasm for CleanTech entrepreneurialism. 

Our Portable Electric generators will help them to power their own initiatives, grow their influence locally, and improve their skills technically. They will learn about electrical concepts and safety, about hardware setup and maintenance, and about capacity planning though access to Portable Electric's online and mobile data analytics apps.

With these skills, those involved can also learn useful business concepts – such as startup planning, budget management, staffing, and marketing – that can help individuals make a living and communities improve economic prosperity.

Our project will begin first as a pilot in the Caribbean – Trinidad & Tobago – and expand from there to other geographies.

Portable Electric has developed a modular rapid response energy solution for disaster zones. The VOLTstack® ‘Helios’, a shipping container containing forty VOLTstack® 2k units and thirty VOLTstack® 5k units, provides maximum impact – critical power to those that need it, without dependence on fossil fuels, limiting proximity to infrastructure, and expensive cabling. Ready to ship at a moment’s notice to anywhere in the world, each 20 foot shipping container comes fully equipped with enough stored energy to immediately power critical infrastructure and appliances for 500+ people or 100+ homes, businesses and clinics.

Rapid deployment occurs the moment the container hits the ground. The industrial grade VOLTstack Power Stations then provide reliable, sustainable power for as long as it takes to restore the local grid. Totally independent of fuel and charged by the easy-to-setup solar farm, the portable VOLTstack® units ensure power gets to those who need it most, as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The VOLTstack comes in 2.5kW and 5kW power sizes, with full solar recharge capacity. It is these smaller units that can be used by individuals or small groups at the community level. This grant would help us to develop and co-create the training program to complement the hardware and software.

VOLTstack technology will last for 10+ years, and is built to endure the most rugged environments. All units have wireless monitoring, GPS and security locking mechanisms.

Distributed Power is a variation on the old adage, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

Disaster situations expose vulnerabilities – including access to critical electricity. This can put populations at the mercy of outside aid organizations and unfortunately also disaster capitalists. Either way, populations are reliant on outsiders' help and the time and logistics they require to arrive. 

Our solution has two parts. At a macro scale, we also intend to partner with aid organizations and logisticians. We call this Helios Hubs and we see it as a way to build key relationships in the traditional humanitarian aid and disaster management worlds. 

However, we're even more interested in the micro scale and believe this is our real innovation. Called Helios Hives, we intend to make available a VOLTstack 2k or 5k power stations to individuals or community groups, train them in how to use and maintain them, and actively encourage them to harness this new renewable energy for community events and businesses that might not otherwise be possible (without stable electricity). We aim to champion micro-power and its inherent self-reliance in ways similar to how micro-finance opened up whole new possibilities with money. 

By making Portable Electric power stations available to local women and young adults (activity), they gain power and influence in their respective communities (output), which enhances confidence and pride (short-term outcome), which improves community cooperation, competence, and capacity (long-term outcome).

By training locals in CleanTech and entrepreneurship (activity), they acquire practical and marketable skills (output), which enhances individual/family income generation (short-term outcome), which raises a community economic prosperity (long-term outcome).

By making electric power stations available and training locals to run and maintain them (activity), they attain locally-based backup power generation during brownouts, blackouts, and disasters (output), which means that potentially life-saving electricity is available more immediately (short-term outcome), which quickens response, shortens recovery, and bolsters resilience (long-term outcome).

1. Now: In 2019, Portable Electric sold 105 units to clients including: NBC, ABC, Disney, Coachella, Live Nation, Netflix, Amazon Studios, Shaw, Fox Sports, 21st Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Red Bull, and Mountain Equipment Coop, among others. 

Distributed Power (the nonprofit) is not yet serving people/groups.

2. 1 Year: We expect a Distributed Power pilot to serve approximately 10 groups.

3. 5 Years: Our hope is for Distributed Power to have scaled substantially through partnerships, with over 1000 units in use worldwide.

In terms of power station units, specifically for Helios Hives at the community level, we would like to engage approximately 10 individuals/groups in the Caribbean (primarily from Trinidad & Tobago) for a pilot with one year. Our hope is for Distributed Power to have scaled substantially through partnerships in five years, with over 1000 units in use worldwide.

Our goal is to especially empower women and young adults. We believe that our clean, safe, portable, and renewable power stations open up access and opportunities for them that are typically not available with diesel/gas generators. Through this hardware, we can make available net-new remarkable learning, skills development, and entrepreneurship opportunities.

We also aspire to build a platform that channels donations towards energy resilience training and enterprise, in ways similar to what Kiva (micro-lending) and Oxfam (gift a goat) and others have done in other ways.

The current pandemic and travel lockdown poses a challenge for us in establishing an international initiative. It is also pulling resources and attention away from other disaster preparedness (including for hurricanes), which of course would be more difficult and dangerous with traditional outside aid. 

Portable Electric's core business serving film production and event management has slowed considerably due to COVID-19, which limits what it can financially contribute to Distributed Power in the near-term. So sourcing still-active funders is a barrier.

We anticipate that there will be some language and cultural considerations, some of which may be barriers.

We also anticipate that some traditional aid players – including those that provide diesel/gas generators – may be threatened by an innovative upstart entering their space.

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The pandemic actually presents an opportunity for us. It has greatly heightened the world's awareness of disaster management, self-sufficiency, and community. 

We can forge relationships virtually and already have a well-connected advisor in the Caribbean to help establish a pilot there. Shipping networks are still operating and initial train-the-trainer sessions can be delivered online.

Finding seed investment in a new nonprofit is par for the course. The team behind Distributed Power has done fundraising for other ventures and will apply the same hustle to this venture. Foundations appear to still be active and seeking out innovative, transformational projects.

We will address cultural and language considerations in concert with local partners and advisors. 

Our overall approach to entering this space is one based on partnerships. We will position ourselves as community resilience focused, renewable energy focused, complementary partners. Where we can integrate with incumbent vendors, and perhaps help them transition to more green and local solutions, we will.

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The Caribbean, generally, is regularly disrupted by hurricanes and many countries in the region have intermittent power delivery. Caribbean islands also have vibrant social scenes, including markets and carnivals. 

The southeast USA is likewise vulnerable to hurricanes. States like Florida have fairly well-developed Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) that we can possibly expand to longer-term.

Our team has good relationships with Spain that may also open markets for us longer term in Latin America. In particular, we hope to make further inroads with the "100 Resilient Cities" movement, which has several Latin American cities. 

Portable Electric is an existing for-profit company. This initiative would operate in partnership with Portable Electric and under a new Canadian nonprofit organization. 

Portable Electric employs 27 people. 

Portable Electric's CEO, lead salesman, and two contractors – one focused on research and economics and the other on resilience innovation - are dedicated to this solution. 

A Trinidad based journalist is working with us as a Caribbean advisor.

Zinc Tank: Research firm led by Brian Singh, a data scientist/behavioural economist with extensive experience in business strategy, policy and marketing.

Warm Ventures: Resilience innovation consultancy led by Steve Hardy with experience in SaaS DisasterTech software, Field Innovation Team deployments, and the 100 Resilient Cities initiative.

Wesley Gibbings: A Trinidadian journalist/newspaper columnist and media trainer who has been in the business for over 35 years covering assignments all over the Caribbean and in Latin America.

Portable Electric:

Mark Rabin, CEO – “Energy Nerd” with 18 years experience in the energy industry, including O&G and solar renewables. Managed $250M in drilling operations. His previous start-up, Zolair Energy, was focused on pay-as-you-go energy systems for the developing world.

Sarath Samarasekera, COO - 20 years in startups and early stage companies, including Trilogy International, Shopster.com and the Union. Grew software company to $15M. 

Chris Moreno, VP Finance, CPA - Founder at 365 Productions and instructor at the Global Startup School. 

Sukhi Dakha - VP Sales - Accomplished Sales Leader with experience in building global teams and hyper growth companies, $0 to $70M in 12 months. 

Glenn Lumanog, VP R&D – 22 years in mission critical power electronics, recently top position as Principal Electrical Engineer at Alpha Technologies, also NEC and Emerson.

Jordan Cowan, VP Product - Experience includes Angstrom Power developing and manufacturing hydrogen fuel cells, Furrion Robotics, and Hypower Systems.

Portable Electric works with most major TV/film production studios and event management companies; organizations with large and internationally dispersed storage facilities.

We have had positive early-stage conversations with major courier companies, temporary shelter producers, and humanitarian aid deployment NGOs like Team Rubicon Canada, an organization of veterans who aid in disaster response and recovery. 

CEO Mark Rabin was part of a 12-company Government of Canada delegation to a Reconstruction and Resilience Forum in The Bahamas following Hurricane Dorian.

Previously, Portable Electric partnered with Creative BC and the Reel Green initiative to implement sustainable solutions across the film and television industry – clean, quiet, portable, and exhaust-free industrial power. These producers, casts, and crews are key allies for telling “green revolution” stories. 

VOLTstacks were part of a large-scale pilot project deployment with Black Rock Labs at Burning Man 2019.

Distributed Power is a social purpose organization that will operate on a cost recovery basis. 

Our business model will be based on three main things:

1. At-cost quality hardware manufactured by Portable Electric, stored and transported by partners with surplus space.

2. Philanthropic and sponsorship support, primarily for Helios Hubs (containers).

3. Mid-size sponsorships and individual micro-donations supporting local Helios Hives "empowered" entrepreneurs and trainers.

Philanthropic and sponsorship support, primarily for Helios Hubs (containers). We will take a traditional sales networking approach for finding and collaborating with them. Organizations can have their logos painted on containers and generators.

Mid-size sponsorships and individual micro-donations supporting local Helios Hives "empowered" entrepreneurs and trainers. We'll facilitate this side of the business via a website, where donors and hives can be proudly profiled. We will determine a reasonable administration fee, if any, to support headquarters operations.

The TPrize Challenge is an opportunity at just the right time. Distributed Power is in its formative stage and this grant would be a great accelerator for developing its business – in particularly, a pilot in the Caribbean - faster, and despite the uncertainty in the world.

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We would like to work with a variety of organizations – including foundations, development banks, governments, 100RC resilient cities, shipping/logistics firms, innovative aid organizations, community educators, and crowd-donation platforms (such as GiveDirectly and Kiva).