Resilient Power: A home-based electricity generation and storage solution for the medically vulnerable during climate-induced power outages

Abstract

Climate-related power outages have increasingly compromised the lives and well-being of medically vulnerable populations. For the millions reliant on electricity for home medical equipment, even short-term power outages can lead to a potentially life-threatening situation. Society’s most vulnerable populations— elders, the ill, and the poor—face the greatest risks. Yet, technologies that provide backup energy in the face of power outages are limited and existing resources are often inaccessible outside of healthcare settings and mostly do not directly reach low-income populations. With the increasing prevalence of climate-related events that induce power outages such as hurricanes, wildfires and windstorms, there is an imminent need to increase access to backup power, for both residences and critical community facilities. This paper sheds light on the increasingly relevant problem of power outages and offers a view toward a socio-technically-based solution to protect vulnerable populations and improve health outcomes in the event of an outage. It provides a comprehensive overview of the impacts of power outages on electricity-dependent populations by highlighting existing research on affected populations, describing the gaps in the field, and featuring two case studies in Puerto Rico and California that provide preliminary evidence for the potential uses of resilient power resources. Resilient power systems-- battery storage ideally paired with solar photovoltaics-- can provide clean, reliable emergency backup power by storing electricity for use when grid power is unavailable. Backup power can mitigate the adverse health impacts of power outages on electricity-dependent populations, many of whom are medically and socioeconomically vulnerable. We describe a future of energy that is resilient and just, by presenting the possibility for access to clean energy technologies that can support healthcare that is home-based and features multiple co-benefits in light of climate change. With additional evidence, policies, incentives, and market designs in place, resilient power technologies can serve all populations in need of reliable and resilient access to electricity in the near future.