To support families affected by the Palisades Fire in Malibu, a plan-B power system called the PowerPole — which, with its thin post and solar panels, resembles a kind of robot umbrella — was put to the test. Soon, they may be hitting the streets of Santa Barbara.
The battery-packed PowerPole was created by Santa Barbara–based company Dragon Q Energy.
Through a partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of Malibu, it allowed people to charge their phones, make calls, and connect to the internet in the wake of the destructive fire. The poles are built for reliability in harsh environments and can provide power in areas without traditional infrastructure, making them perfect for this kind of disaster response, said Dragon Q marketing director Liam Casey.
“While the fires presented an unfortunate test case, the deployment has highlighted the PowerPole’s potential to make a real difference in emergency scenarios,” Casey added. Through a collaboration with Santa Barbara nonprofit Unite to Light and the James S. Bower Foundation, they want to bring this same tech to the Central Coast. The Bower Foundation is providing the funds to install 10 PowerPoles — which will cost an estimated $7,500-$10,000 per unit — across communities in Santa Barbara County.