Post–Hurricane Helene, this community is getting creative with solar

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Nearly two years after Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on western North Carolina’s largest city, many Asheville residents are still rebuilding — and determined to be better prepared for the next weather disaster.

In Emma, a diverse, mostly immigrant neighborhood just northwest of downtown, solar energy is playing a key role in that work, offering not only a backstop for the next grid outage but also lower utility bills year-round.

Earlier this month, residents, clean energy workers, and organizers gathered to celebrate the latest addition to Emma’s growing solar capacity: a 46-kilowatt array on the rooftop of the community and cultural center owned by La Esperanza (“the hope” in Spanish), a neighborhood real estate co-op formed in 2019.

La Esperanza is one of many organizations and co-ops within Poder Emma, an alliance that has worked to fight displacement and ensure affordable housing in this low-income community for nearly two decades. The 100-plus panels atop the center — a gathering place for celebrations, workshops, and other functions — will lower electricity bills for Poder (meaning ​“power”), reducing the amount of energy it draws from the grid.

The project was made possible by a host of partners that contributed time, money, and expertise. Most came together in the immediate aftermath of Helene, when mobile solar-powered charging stations proved vital for Emma’s recovery.

“Suddenly, there was an interest in solar where there hadn’t been before,” said Ingrid Johnson, a project manager at Poder. ​“The reality is that solar can be for communities that are often left out.”

The panels were donated by the Footprint Project, a New Orleans–based sustainable disaster-relief nonprofit that arrived in the area right after the storm and never left. Sugar Hollow Solar, whose offices are just a few doors down from the sprawling, 20,000-square-foot Poder complex, installed the system. Invest Appalachia, a regional fund for economic development, chipped in with a bridge loan to tide Poder over until the panels pay for themselves and federal rebates are processed.

Yet even with that assistance, a typical battery backup system to power essential functions during a grid outage proved too costly. So the partners got creative: They instead have a trailer outfitted with 900 watts of solar panels and a smaller battery to help do the job.

The box on wheels, another Footprint donation, is able to plug into the community center and function as a mini generator for crucial services, including the internet, refrigeration, and the pump for a drinking-water well the collective drilled on-site the winter after Helene destroyed an Asheville water main. The damage left most of the city without clean tap water for nearly two months.

“The climate is going to get more extreme as years go by, unfortunately,” said Kelvin Bonilla, who joined Poder’s staff in early 2025. ​“So, being able to power the pump from the solar trailer adds that extra layer of resiliency.”

But the solar trailer is more than just an emergency generator. Most of the time, it serves as a mobile outlet and tool-charging station for Poder’s home repair crew, which was formed to address the destruction from Helene and will soon tackle energy-efficiency improvements, too. The team needs its own power source for drills, saws, and other equipment to avoid overwhelming the fuse boxes of the homes they are fixing.

“When we plug into their outlets, we have situations where we trip breakers because it’s such a big load,” said Bonilla, who manages the home repair initiative. ​“Having the trailer allows us to be more independent and more resilient.”