Oct 21, 2025

How four solar-powered batteries fueled a concert in NYC last weekend. • 4 min read From the outside, the New Energy music festival looked like any other outdoor concert: A big tent housed a modest-sized stage and sound equipment, while another offered guests food and beverage options. But the power that fueled the festival didn’t come from a diesel generator, which is standard for outdoor events—it came from four batteries juiced up at a solar-powered EV charger outside New York City that were then transported to Governor’s Island, where the event was staged. New Energy was an extension of a conference hosted by the DER Task Force called “DERVOS”—a play on the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland—that was held on the island the day before. (DER stands for “distributed energy resources.”) James McGinniss, one of the event’s organizers and the CEO of clean power company David Energy, told Tech Brew that New Energy was about building public trust around solar power and battery storage, and showing concert-goers that clean energy systems are dependable. “The whole thinking is if we can just put this on display,” McGinniss said, “we want the general public to come to these shows and just grok that it works.” The solar power: The four batteries that DER Task Force used for the event were originally manufactured by Moxion, a portable battery startup. Even though the company went bankrupt last year, the batteries still work and were rented out to event organizers by an equipment rental company. Tricia Crimmins Two batteries powered the event’s main stage inside a repurposed nearby chapel, which hosted New York-based acts like electronic artist Eartheater, rapper Junglepussy, and DJ Doss. The third battery was hooked up to the food and beverage tent, and a handful of Bluetti portable power stations were on hand for attendees to charge their phones. A fourth fully charged battery sat idle as backup power. Tricia Crimmins This is the third party DERVOS has thrown at the end of its annual New York conference, and this year’s setup is its largest yet: Two years ago, they used a Ford F-150 Lightning to power the after-party, and last year they threw “Brooklyn’s first solar + battery powered concert” using portable batteries. In the future, McGinniss said he hopes to have solar arrays on-site and even more guests in attendance. Keep up with the innovative tech transforming business Tech Brew keeps business leaders up-to-date on the latest innovations, automation advances, policy shifts, and more, so they can make informed decisions about tech. Subscribe “There’s actually an economic model around having deployable solar and storage that can be a generator,” he said. “If we can grow this up to a 10,000-person festival over the next couple years on Governor’s Island, then it can inspire the work of others to be like, ‘Oh, wow, they’re not using diesel generators. Maybe we don’t have to, either.’” The people: New Energy Fest attracted a few different groups of people: Those who showed up for the music; the “DER-pilled,” a term DER Task Force uses to refer to folks who are enthusiastic about distributed energy; and people who were interested in the performances in addition to how the event was powered. Ric Leichtung, the founder of creative agency AdHoc Projects who booked the performers for the festival, told Tech Brew that in doing so they prioritized “artists who care about the environment, who care about where their energy comes from.” One attendee, Nicholas Birkhead, told Tech Brew he was excited about the festival because it introduces the general public to clean energy at a time when the Trump administration is focusing on non-renewable energy sources . Birkhead is an energy fellow at Carbon Reform, a climate tech company, and said he spent hundreds of dollars to attend DERVOS (mostly on a hotel room). “It’s a lot of money for me, but it’s what I can really contribute in this moment to play some small part in making this happen,” he said. “It’s really important, in my opinion, for the clean energy people to lean in as hard as they can.” Copy Keep up with the innovative tech transforming business Tech Brew keeps business leaders up-to-date on the latest innovations, automation advances, policy shifts, and more, so they can make informed decisions about tech. Subscribe