Brooklyn’s first solar-powered concert debuts this weekend

We all know about solar-powered cars and solar-powered houses, but you probably haven't heard of a solar-powered concert before. 

This Saturday, October 26, Brooklyn is going to see its what is likely its first-ever solar-powered music event at NewLab, an experimental space that hosts more than 250 tech startups in the Navy Yard.

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The concert will feature several artists who have shaped the soundscape of New York City in the past several years, including synthpop artist Grace Ives and alternative Indie band Psymon Spine. The concert will be headlined by the pop band Nation of Language and the Boston-raised and Brooklyn-based rock band Model/Actriz. 

Something we might not think about when we attend concerts is that they actually leave behind a pretty sizable carbon footprint. Traditional concerts might produce 20 to 60 tons of CO2, while larger events can release upwards of 1,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. Nowadays, people's standards for concerts are pretty high, and some major culprits for the massive carbon footprint involved in putting together concerts include lighting, heating and cooling systems, transportation of event materials, and more. 

This historic solar powered concert was organized by none other than the SOLARPUNKS, a non-profit that hopes to eliminate fossil fuels with a focus on the creative and entertainment industries; the DER Task Force, a community of clean energy professionals; and Stereogum. How are they going to host a completely solar-powered concert, you may be wondering? Through a battery energy storage system from the organization Sustainable Westchester, which has one of the first solar-to-EV charging station in the U.S. That's a long-winded way of saying that everything will be powered by eco-friendly batteries. 

“While there are many technical challenges to get to 100% solar-powered parties at scale, it’s doable," says James McGinnis, who works at DER Task Force. "We want the event to show that decarbonization is happening faster than people think.”

If this is what the future of concerts will look like, we have to admit that we're pretty excited. 

Tickets to the concert start at $28, and you can now get them online here.