Elon Musk funded a solar project in Alabama in 2010. The 25-kilowatt system, installed at the South Bay Communities Alliance (SBCA) Hurricane Response Center in Coden, Alabama, was designed to help the facility keep operating if a disaster knocked out the surrounding electricity grid. The installation included 108 photovoltaic panels and battery backup and was expected to provide about 90% to 100% of the centre’s electricity needs.
Musk’s foundation provided the funding, while solar company SolarCity donated and installed the system. The project came as Coden was still dealing with the effects of Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which had affected the coastal community’s commercial fishing industry.
In 2013, the company launched the GivePower Foundation to provide electricity to schools in developing countries without reliable power. The combination of 108 solar panels and battery storage was intended to give a disaster response centre a source of electricity that could continue working even when the surrounding grid could not. Because this project was more than just producing power in the normal way, the battery backup was important.
It was supposed to provide energy security if a hurricane or other disaster knocked out the local power grid. By then, SolarCity’s philanthropy had expanded well beyond disaster relief. For Coden, however, the original project had a more immediate purpose.