A Burning Man 307
nuclear power plants, everyone realized that Japan needed
other energy sources more suitable for an earthquake zone.
The Musk Foundation donated $250 000 to the construction
of a solar power system in Soma City, 27 miles [43 km] from
the damaged nuclear plants.
To prove the area was safe, sound, and open for busi-
ness, Elon visited the city and shook hand with Mayor
Hidekiyo Tachiya. While the solar panels were manufac-
tured in Japan and installed by local workers, solar power
specialists from SolarCity supported the project. “We are
grateful to Elon Musk and the Musk Foundation for this
generous gift, and for coming such a long way to personally
visit Soma City,” Tachiya said. “Recovery requires us to
build new industries, and our next generation wants them
to be supported by new kinds of energy. With this project
as a beginning, Soma City hopes to become a model for
Japan’s energy future.”^106
Soma City wasn’t the first solar power project by the
Musk Foundation. “We’re looking mostly at the US,” Elon
said. “We had also considered Haiti as a good option, but
we found difficulties getting the system into the country
without getting impounded.”
In 2010, the Musk Foundation decided to build a solar
power system for a hurricane response center in Coden,
Alabama. The system would provide renewable power to
an area devastated by both theHurricane Katrinain 2005
and theDeepwaterHorizonoil spill in 2010. The system will
generate nearly 100 percent of the electricity needed, and
with the help of a backup battery, the system will continue