Portable Electric Powers Almost Anything
Originally Published on The ECOreport.
Portable Electric came out of Vancouver’s 2015 Great Climate Race. This is a “walk and run race,” with 2 kilometer and 10 kilometer events through the city’s iconic Stanley Park. The event raises funds and awareness for local community solar-energy projects. In similar outdoor events throughout North America, the associated venues are powered by portable gas and diesel generators. Having previously installed solar plus battery systems in Africa, the Great Climate Race’s power co-ordinator knew how to resolve this apparent contradiction. After the race, Mark Rabin founded a new company to continue providing solar plus battery power to outdoor events throughout Western Canada. Portable Electric can power almost anything, from music festivals, to emergency situations, to film sets.
“I designed a luxury product using the best in class technology lithium iron phosphate batteries and solar panels, and scaled them up to much larger sizes for the developed world,” says Rabin.
Portable Electric rents silent, pollution-free, power stations to anyone who needs electricity where there’s no place to plug in. There are two sizes. A 2 kWh unit called the “VoltStack Mini” will run a party sound system for up to 20 hours straight. (This number can drop to 10-15hrs with all the DJ equipment.) The 55 kWh “VoltStack Boss” can energize large stages with sound and lighting, vendor areas, and many film sets. The batteries come fully charged. Portable Electric tops them up with additional energy as needed.
“Once the batteries are exhausted or run low, we are able to bring them back to the main boss unit, swap them out and recharge them. So it is essentially a hub and spoke model,” says Rabin.
He calls it the “VoltStack Ecosystem.”
The VoltStack Boss possesses sufficient capacity to charge 27 minis before its energy banks are exhausted.
“If we are rolling five minis with solar capabilities, it should last a significant amount of time,” says Rabin. “We are also in the early stages of developing a larger portable solar array.”
If necessary, Portable Electric can also recharge its batteries from the existing electrical system, like an electric vehicle, or be utilized in connection with conventional diesel generators.
“We are looking at using natural gas generation, potentially hydrogen fuel cell generation and that allows us to keep the batteries topped up as required,” said Rabin. “We are looking at hybrid systems: solar with generation and storage.”
The Film Industry
One of its principal target markets is the film industry.
“Film is an important component, especially here in Vancouver. We have a target of becoming the world’s greenest city by 2020. The film industry is a large contributor to generator use around the city.”
Rabin described a Christmas scene filmed in downtown Vancouver. Though it was shot at night, the set was lit up as if it were day. In addition, the film called for (artificial) snow.
“The power requirements are astronomical, but we are already in talks with the Vancouver film school to support their aspiring film makers. We can provide backup power for their cameras, battery packs, and lighting systems. We can do that with the Voltstack Mini,” said Rabin.
Portable Electric can provide all the electricity needed for a small indy film shoot. It can supplement and offset some of the generation for larger film shoots, especially applications in confined areas, or mobile applications.
The Emergency Space
Rabin is also moving into the emergency space. This involves forming partnerships at the municipal level.
Portable Electric could, for example, provide additional electrical support to the city of Vancouver if there was an earthquake. The VoltStack Boss can power large applications such as water pumps and backup generation. Minis are ideal for providing power and lighting to outlying areas.
Transition To Distributed Energy Systems
“The Vancouver and Calgary regions are our proving grounds and home base, and there’s no question that the big opportunity for growth is in North America for our dealerships, and globally for our Power stations and eventually hybrid generators/micro grids. The global power market is valued in 2016 at $12.9B and expected to double by 2021,” says Rabin.
“We are seeing a real transition to distributed energy systems (around the world). This is already being put into practice all over Africa and India. There is a massive opportunity to explore DC appliances. They are so much more efficient: DC TVs, DC fridges.”
He pointed to the need to refurbish North America’s aging infrastructure. Much of the hardware dates back to the 50s, 60s and 70s. This system has clearly gone past the limits it was designed for. Consequently, we are faced with significant black-outs, brown-outs and other challenges.
There is great demand for companies that can quickly deploy power where it is needed. This is Portable Electric’s target market, providing reliable electricity wherever it is needed.
“We are starting out in smaller applications, confined spaces and smaller (film) shoots in remote areas. We also see the Indy film industry in Vancouver as a great opportunity to provide power for whatever they in need in charging and lighting.”
Microgrids are being deployed throughout North America. They are rolling out on Long Island, since the devastation caused by hurricane Sandy. Microgrids are being installed in California and the Canadian Arctic.
“All of the big players are now scaling to accommodate more distributed systems. I’m all for it, they are much more robust,” says Rabin.
Listening To All The Stakeholders
He added that Portable Electric is a new company that is listening to potential stakeholders.
“We’ve had an almost overwhelming amount of traction and support here in Vancouver. We’ve gone from concept to revenues in just a little under six months. We’ve provided power for multiple festivals and street fairs around British Columbia and Alberta.”
The week of our interview, Portable Electric supplied the electricity for the West Coast Vancouver Gay Pride Festival’s main stage, smaller stage, laptops, security and lighting.
Photo credits: Mark Rabin, founder of Portable Electric, with a 2 kWh Voltstack mini; Publicity photos showing the 55 kWh Voltstack Boss, Voltstack Mini & solar panel – All images courtesy Portable Electric
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