Education Resources
Education Resources
Embedded Files
Safety First
Safety First
Disclaimer:
1. The Renewables for Artists Team (RAT) are not licensed electricians. The information provided herein is educational and not professional advice. Projects are encouraged to consult licensed experts to review their project's design to ensure installations will be safe.
2. The RAT is not a paid consultant or contractor. Our assistance and guidance are provided on a best-effort basis. We do not warrant any analysis, designs, construction materials, logistics, or funding of projects. The RAT is not liable for accidental injury, loss of life, damage, or loss to equipment or installations connected with projects.
The RAT's Technical Advisors mentor and assist projects in designing, installing, operating, and maintaining safe power systems at Black Rock City.
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 intended for use by electrical system professionals and safety inspectors.
Black Rock City is a temporary installation, and its electrical power generation and distribution are similar to those found at 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 helpful article about Festival Power - Is there Documentable Code?
Camp Support
Camp Support
🌞 The theme camp Bao Chicka Wow Wow is a leader in developing renewable power systems for camps and for charging mutant vehicles
🌞 This Green Theme Camp Community resource page may be helpful with transitioning to renewable power sources
Topics Include:
Safety First, then Understand & Reduce Your Power Needs
Responsible Generator Use
Transition to Renewables
Share the Sunshine
Mentoring, Education and Assistance
🌞 On the Burning Man Project's Hive, the Theme Camp Builders offer an Electrical System Guide
Topics include:
Source - Solar (with backup generator) - 21 Camp Members - Peak Power 400W
Source - Solar - 50 Camp Members - Peak Power kW
Source - Solar - 35 Camp Members - Peak Power 3kW
Source - Generator - 70 camp members - Peak Power 15-20kw, Average Power 5kW
Source - Generator - 170 Camp Members - Average Power 85kW
Online Burning Man Hive Course
Online Burning Man Hive 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.
Online Burning Man Hive Course
Online Burning Man Hive Course
This course is for Black Rock City installations in general and is geared for meeting the Burner Leadership Achieving Sustainable Theme Camps (BLAST) criteria. An electrical load analysis or electrical inventory is a baseline to help understanding the installation's 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.
By Bruce Cooper
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?
by Doug Hanson
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.
by Doug Hanson
by Doug Hanson
For solar, wind, or solar/wind hybrid renewable power, the most appropriate, efficient, and cost-effective system requires a comprehensive installation electrical load analysis to determine the desired system capacity. Portions of this spreadsheet are helpful for all projects.
by Bob Wolff
by Bob Wolff
Bob Wolff invented the RoboTracker and deployed the units at Black Rock City in 2024 and 2025 to track power system performance.
What does RoboTracker monitor?
Power usage (Watts)
Voltage
Amps
Every 5 seconds!
Several temperatures (ambient, CPU, and power monitor)
Operates on one battery for ~10-14 days
Bob talks about the RoboTracker in this video.
By Doug Hanson
By Doug Hanson
Updated by Scott Williams
Updated by Scott Williams
For all projects who have been selected by the RAT as candidates for mentoring, and other interested project teams, this short handbook summarizes the steps in the mentoring process, specific expectations, and what should occur between now and burn week.
By Doug Hanson
By Doug Hanson
Updated by Scott Williams
Updated by Scott Williams
For all RAT Technical Advisors or Mentors, this handbook describes the RAT's Targeted Guidance Mentoring Program.
Travel with the RAT on our journey of exploration, visionary transformation, and self-enrichment through the audio/visual medium known as video.
Hot Topics combines the RAT Skills Sharpening sessions with the annual Renewable Energy Burner Symposium segments and the Burning Man Project Camp Symposiums.
by Scott Williams
by Scott Williams
This easy-to-use calculator can help you estimate carbon dioxide emissions.
For the Burning Man Project Hive online content login using your Burn profile
Anyone can view the RAT's Hive activities. Go to this link to sign-up for a Burning Man profile
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