Power
Overview
We engage with and educate the Burning Man community about how to right-size electrical power generation and consumption, implement energy conservation strategies, and how to transition from using generators to renewable power systems that are suitable for use at Black Rock City.*
*Conservation means "a careful preservation and protection of something especially: planned management of a natural resource to prevent exploitation, destruction, or neglect" (Merriam-Webster).
Safety Is Our Highest Priority!
Vision: Our Dreams for BRC 2030
BLAST Ideal: Camps generate 100% of power needs from renewable energy systems that can be deployed back into the default world.
Mission: How We'll Get There
BLAST Focus: Migrating towards more efficient power usage and renewable energy generation.
Safety First
Black Rock City is located in Pershing County and the county adopts the 2017 edition of the National Fire Protection Association's National Electrical Code. The code is highly technical, and it is intended to be used by electrical system professionals and safety inspectors.
Black Rock City is a temporary installation and electrical power generation and distribution is similar to construction sites. The National Safety Council provides this guidance about how to keep electrical installations safe: Temporary Electrical Wiring for Construction Sites
The United States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration provides this fact sheet about Grounding Requirements for Portable Generators.
Here is a useful article about Festival Power - Is there Documentable Code?
Theme camps that lack sufficient expertise in designing, installing, operating, and maintaining electric power systems at Black Rock City should consult with licensed electricians to keep their camps safe.
Ways to Get Started
Black Rock City renewable energy proponents generally recommend that camps should incrementally convert from using generators to renewables in bite sized steps. That way camps can adapt over time instead of possibly having to endure an expensive shock if they invest heavily in a new system that doesn’t work.
The Theme Camp Builders group on the Burning Man Project Hive provides an overview about how to design and build theme camp power systems.
The Renewables for Artists Team (RAT) educates and mentors artists and others about using renewable power at Black Rock City. The RAT Sponsors Online Courses, Renewable Energy Burner Symposiums, Skills Sharpening Sessions and Participate in Burning Man Project Camp Symposium.
Introduction to Renewable Power
Renewable Energy Systems Suitable for Use at Black Rock City
You can choose to purchase a complete off the shelf system, or build your own system. Solar panels are the most popular type of renewable power generation at Black Rock City. Wind turbine generators can also be an excellent power source if safely installed and maintained. Either way, success begins with education. The RAT believes strongly that the first step in designing and building a successful system is to have a basic understanding about how renewable energy works.
Solar Power 101 - Online Course
The online Solar Power 101 course covers how to analyze, design and build solar power systems. The lectures are broken down into bite size, self paced, modules. Each video module is about 10 minutes long. If you are interested in additional information you can click on the Dig Deeper buttons for a deeper dive into solar. At the end we have a Q&A session to help wrap up the lecture.
SOLARPUNKS 2022 Energy Case Study
At Burning Man 2022 the SOLARPUNKS collected solar regeneration + energy consumption data for their 100% solar powered theme camp and summarized the data in the SOLARPUNKS 2022 Energy Case Study.
How To Do Camp Electrical Load Analysis - Online Course
This course is for Black Rock City camps in general but it is also geared for the BLAST criteria. An electrical load analysis or electrical inventory is a baseline to help understanding the camps electrical usage. This opens the door to become more energy efficient and that, in turn, helps reduce air pollution and our carbon footprint. Once understood it is a simple process to do. Also, it's the first step in building and acquiring a solar or wind power system.
How To Do An Electrical Energy Inventory For Your Camp by Bruce Cooper
How much electrical power does your camp consume? What size generator or solar power system do you need? Can it power a refrigerator, freezer, lights, or sound system? What other devices will your campers need to power, such as 2-way radios, water pumps, or electric bikes? What else? How much will it cost to power everything? How can I reduce my carbon footprint?
Sustaining & Surviving with Solar-Hybrid Power on Playa
Electricity powers our life on the playa, yet the rain in 2023 and dust in 2022 reinforced our need to be prepared for anything. This session will focus on how hybrid power for camps and artists — combining solar, batteries, and generators — can provide safe and sustainable energy in any weather. Topics include lightweight yet rugged multi-use solar structures, portable battery systems, and minimizing fossil fuel generators.
Power: Using Less While Living Large
Sustainability is an important focus for many camps. However, many don’t know that you can reduce your power usage and carbon footprint without materially reducing all the good things generators and their electricity provide. Hear from our experts on how solar, LED’s and other technologies can help you have your cake and eat it too.
Solar Powered System Estimator by Doug Hanson
You can complete a system or installation electrical load analysis to determine the desired system capacity for your camp.
Solar Powered System Estimator User’s Guide by Doug Hanson
This user guide is intended to help the novice or mid-level builder use the Solar Powered System Estimator spreadsheet (currently v2.4). The spreadsheet will help the builder to quantify their solar power needs in a step by step fashion and ultimately output the key system parameters of a system design based on those figures. This guide will take you through each section.
Burning Fuels Carbon Dioxide Emissions Calculator By Scott Williams
This easy-to-use calculator can help you estimate carbon dioxide emissions, or reduction of emissions, from burning Biodiesel (Soybean Oil), Bio-FT (Fisher Tropsch), Diesel, Ethanol (Cellulosic), Ethanol (Corn Based), Gasoline, Kerosene (Tiki Torch Fuel), Propane, Renewable Diesel, and wood.
Burning Man 2023 “Animalia”
According to the 2023 Black Rock City Census:
47.5% of the people in camps used solar
0.1% used wind power
45.5% used battery power
70.5% used generator power
You can see solar panels in this aerial photograph of Black Rock City taken on August 31, 2023 by Jamen Percy.
Here is a sample of what the solar panels look like in the photograph (red arrows)
Thousands of recreational vehicles, travel trailers and hundreds of theme camps still exclusively relied on generators to power air conditioning, refrigeration, lighting, and sound systems.
Transitioning from generators to renewable energy on the playa can be challenging and expensive. The artists, theme camps, the Burning Man Project’s Department of Regeneration, and the Solar Power Team who all work diligently to switch from generators to renewable power should be commended for their efforts.
Director of the Department of Regeneration George Reed asks "How do participants come together to find solutions collectively?" George provides the following about what happened at Animalia:
53% of theme camps, or 671, worked towards meeting the Sustainability Roadmap.
43% of camps, 539, used some form of renewable power.
20% of camps received sustainability tickets through the various programs indicating that they were creating inovative solutions.
245 camps participated in HUBS, which is Humans Uniting for Better Sustainability.
35% of the Honorarium Art Projects worked towards meeting the Sustainability Roadmap's goals.
The Renewables for Artists Team's Technical Advisors mentored and assisted about twenty-eight artists and four theme camps in powering their installations with renewable energy.
Generator/Battery "Hybrid" Mix - High-capacity batteries can be used to reduce the amount of time generators need to run. The generators support the camp’s power needs and charges batteries at the same time. When the batteries are charged the generators shut down and the camps are then powered by the batteries. During build week when Tropical Storm Hilary rained on Black Rock City the Burning Man Project's infrastructure was powered entirely by batteries for about 48 hours when no air conditioning was needed. This Sunbelt Rentals 800-pound battery was charged by the background generators.
Bite Sized Solar - Many camps are incrementally transitioning to solar and may use solar for the first time to power, say, refrigeration. Seeing how that works helps the camp community to figure out how to increase capacity in the future and someday power all their electricity needs with renewables. This is a new solar power system at the Black Rock Tea Company camp and it powered all of the camp's electricity needs except for air conditioning.
Mega Bite Sized Solar - The Burning Man Project’s Solar Power Team deployed three large scale Unicorn solar array and battery systems that powered portions of Center Camp, the entire builds and event week use of the Temple of the Heart, and the Man this year. The project’s goal is to continue to add Unicorns, and other "right sized" units, so that the project’s infrastructure energy needs will be 100% solar powered. This was the Center Camp's Unicorn solar power installation.
In addition to generating electricity the Unicorns provided shade and a rest area or meeting space. During the Burning Man event air conditioning is the largest electricity power draw and a significant increase in solar shade structures would help to reduce the need for air conditioning and generate electricity at the same time.
The Unicorns are an excellent teaching tool that shows the capabilities of portable solar power systems that can be used at Black Rock City for several weeks each year and then moved and redeployed to power other infrastructure needs the remainder of the year.
Watch Our Talk About Power
Burning Man: Green Theme Camp Summit - Power
GOING SOLAR by Profiles In Dust
The Burning Man Project aspires to power the infrastructure and art of Black Rock City via energy from the sun by 2030. Organizations, camps, and artists are heeding this call, engaging Black Rock City and neighboring communities as a testing-ground to research and develop ways to harness and utilize solar power, not only during the annual event on playa, but throughout the rest of the year. As they learn to power The Man, The Temple, camps and MORE, emerging systems, networks, and best practices mark this endeavor to make Black Rock City a carbon-neutral model for future civilization.
Discover More
Burning Man Generators and Electrical Systems
Renewables for Artists Team