Puerto Rico’s power grid requires more than $130 billion in repairs after recent hurricanes. Solar and storage companies have provided distributed energy solutions in the aftermath of increasing storms.
Beam Global, a distributor of solar-plus-storage EV charging stations, announced that the Puerto Rico government will begin deploying the company’s EV Arc charging systems to power government vehicles and aid in disaster preparedness and grid resiliency.
The US Department of Homeland Security is funding the commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s EV Arc deployments under a general services administration contract, in which the federal contract can be made available to state and local entities.
“Governments and companies are becoming increasingly reliant on electricity for fuel as the adoption of EVs is rapidly accelerating, said Desmond Wheatly, chief executive officer of Beam Global. “The increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters calls for heightened disaster preparedness. Beam products are designed and engineered to perform in extreme conditions.”
According to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), grid outages have increased by 64% over the last decade, with 83% of grid outages caused by a weather event.
The most recent Hurricane Irma and Maria caused more than $130 billion in damage to Puerto Rico’s electric grid to fix and replace the island’s infrastructure, while many companies such as Beam, Sunrun and Sunnova Energy have provided solar and storage products to residents and government agencies across the island.
Beam’s EV Arc is a mobile and off-grid charging system comprised of a 4.3 kW solar module whose canopy measures 21 feet by 10.6 feet and provides up to 265 miles of AC powered charging range using J-1772 connections for most EV models. The battery can be installed in 22, 32 or 43 kWh power output configurations.
The system stands at 15.3 feet height and weighs in at just under 12,500 pounds, capable of withstanding winds of 120 miles per hour, and flood-proof to 9.5 feet.
In March, Beam acquired AllCell Technologies, allowing the EV charging systems integrator to source its own lithium-ion batteries internally from a producer of batteries from North America.
