Tesla Powerwalls And Starlink Aid Hawaii's Wildfire-Hit Communities

Starlink is contributing to reestablishing communications in wildfire-ravaged Hawaii.

Tesla Powerwall home energy storage system

Suvrat Kothari

By: Suvrat Kothari

Aug 18, 2023 at 1:10pm ET

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The Hawaii wildfires have knocked off grid lines and the local network, leaving thousands of people without electricity and internet, as per several reports. But Tesla power stations and Starlink satellites are providing relief to some Maui areas, as per newly surfaced tweets.

On August 16, 2023, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that Tesla and Starlink were doing their best to be helpful in Hawaii. Will Cain, a Fox News Radio podcaster shared that Tesla power stations and over 50 Starlinks were providing emergency power and re-establishing communications.

Pictures indicate relief workers putting together pairs of Tesla Powerwalls in a workshop. The Powerwalls are standing on a wooden base, and have solar inverters between them in what looks like a makeshift arrangement.

A document pasted on the Powerwall reads “Tesla And Rising Sun Solar Maui Community Power Station,” indicating Tesla’s partnership with Rising Sun Solar, as per the video above. Rising Sun Solar installs and maintains Tesla solar panels, solar roofs, and Powerwalls across Hawaii, as per its website.

The mobile station appears to be powering a relief camp in Lahaina – the video showcases blue and red tents set up on grass, with relief equipment lying around. The tents are set up next to a destroyed electricity line.

Local and national channels have widely reported how the wildfires torched acres of land, bringing infrastructure down and impacting the local communities. These makeshift arrangements might help workers in coordinating recovery efforts more effectively.

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Last year, reports surfaced of Tesla making similar contributions in Ukraine. The company sent multiple shipments of its Powerwalls to function as mobile power stations, along with Starlink equipment. Around the same time, a video emerged on YouTube explaining how to get the Powerwall up and running.

After a Ukrainian minister thanked Tesla for its Starlink shipments, Musk responded, “We have also sent power adapters for car cigarette lighters, solar/battery packs, and generators for places where electricity is not available.”

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