A New Orleans nonprofit hopes to keep restaurants fully operational via solar power during hurricane recovery and cool residents. It’s called Get Lit and Stay Lit!

A New Orleans non-profit wants to equip restaurants with solar panels so they can remain operational during power losses.  Feed Second Line Founder Devin De Wulf said the idea was sparked when the city lost power for 10 days after Ida and restaurants had to dispose of thousands of pounds of food.

“At the same time people were going hungry, and many elders were forced to just sit in the heat, and all these things can be solved if we invest in our local restaurants and empower them with solar panels and batteries,” said De Wulf.

De Wulf said they installed their first set of solar panels a few weeks ago at the Caribbean restaurant Queen Trini Lisa in Mid-City New Orleans. He said outfitting each restaurant runs between $60 and 90 thousand, but there’s a way for the eateries to pay back into the program with energy savings.  De Wulf hopes it serves as a model for the state.

“Every community in south Louisiana should have this because this is a very practical solution to our reality of hurricanes,” said De Wulf.

In addition to preserving food, De Wulf said the solar-powered restaurants can act as cooling and phone charging stations for the neighborhood. He’s hoping the idea will take off and become a mainstay for a state that’s embattled with hurricane recovery.

“I’m just a guy in New Orleans that runs a very tiny nonprofit we’re hoping that somebody with political connections will take this idea and help us realize it, that’s the dream,” said De Wulf.

He said instead of relying on other states to provide support after hurricanes we need to give ourselves the tools to do it on our own.

https://www.feedthesecondline.org/