The power went out in Mauricio Montoya’s snow-blanketed neighborhood at 5:30 on a Monday evening in February during the cold snap that devastated Texas. Night quickly fell, sinking his neighborhood in Pearland into eerie, near-complete darkness—except for his house. His lights stayed on, thanks to a solar panel array and a set of batteries that kept his home warm and lit until Thursday, when the power came back on for good.

Montoya’s home became a retreat during the disaster; neighbors came to warm up, his extended family who lost power came to stay. His children slept in their own beds, safe and warm.

“It was a lifesaver to have the panels and batteries,” he says. “We could have gone on forever that