They powered most of Billie Eilish's recent lollapolooza appearance with solar charged batteries. The technology is real and works. We are now in the
phase of convincing people it can be trusted. Remember the "
LED's aren't bright enough to run real
stage lights" era about 5 years ago? That's where we are with battery
power. 5 years and everyone will be doing it.
I am a little more pessimistic than you.
They powered a portion of what Billie brought in. At the nine minute
mark they discuss what the provided and it sounds like 1 @ 400, 3 @ 200 and 1 @100 services. Not everything used for her performance. The festival PA, video and flown lighting rig would have still been run off generators. I have no connection with the company or the even but based on my festival experience they would have used
power from
load in starting around 2 AM until push back at 10 AM or so then a long break until change over and the performance followed by
load out. Compare that with powering the whole
stage where acts start at 2 or 3 in the afternoon and go until midnight. A much longer and high draw of
power. Glancing over some old paperwork a festival i did in 2013 Cat provided 6 @ 400 and 2 @ 200 for festival use and additional
power for guest acts to use. Those numbers don't include shore
power for buses or the production compound.
From my understanding the solar panels were deployed on the field where the audience would be, on a three day festival they would need to
build the arrays elsewhere. Ideally they could be used to provide shade for the crowd throughout the festival site. I would be interested to know how cloud
cover or rain effects the panels ability to charge the batteries. Do you overbuild the arrays (how does trucking, labor, and rental cost compare to genny + fuel rental)?
I agree there is a place for solar
power at festivals, and I agree there is a ton more the industry could be doing better to save the planet but I feel as there is lower hanging fruit to pick first. My top pet peeves - buses and trucks ideally instead of shore
power either because the
driver doesn't want to be bothered to deal with the
cord or the
venue does not have shore
power where the buses
park. A lack of public transit options near venues - if an artist was really concerned about reducing the amount of green
house gas produced at shows don't
play venues with poor transit options. A festival that only exists for a few days a year wont have train service but an
arena hosting music ans sporting events not having train service is inexcusable. Take a hard look at routing, how much back
tracking is going on? The booking agent gets their cut before fuel costs are taken into account so they will
throw darts to try and fill a schedule.
