Three Arden Communities Expand Emergency Preparedness With Backup-Powered Gathering Places

ArdensReady will highlight three community resilience hubs at its November 7 preparedness event in Arden, Delaware.

ARDEN, DE, UNITED STATES, November 6, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Residents of Arden, Ardentown and Ardencroft in New Castle County, Delaware, have established three community gathering places with backup power to support residents during electrical outages. The volunteer group ArdensReady will highlight the facilities at its third annual preparedness day on Saturday, November 7, at the Buzz Ware Village Center.

The three locations are the Buzz Ware Village Center at 2119 The Highway, the Arden Club Gild Hall and the Candlelight Theatre. Buzz Ware is designated as the first gathering place to open during an outage, offering residents a location to charge phones, access Wi-Fi, get warm and check on neighbors. Gild Hall and Candlelight Theatre are additional locations that may be activated as needed. Both have commercial kitchens.

The facilities use different backup-power technologies. Gild Hall and Candlelight Theatre are equipped with natural-gas generators. Buzz Ware has a solar array and battery storage designed to support at least three days of building electricity demand under the project’s planning assumptions. Reducing air-conditioning use can extend battery operation. Available sunlight may allow the solar array to recharge the batteries during a prolonged outage; actual operating duration depends on weather and electricity use.

Sol Donum and American Sentry Solar designed and installed the storage and the solar for the Buzz Ware installation. CE+T America supplied bidirectional power converters. The team also coordinated requirements related to utility interconnection with Delmarva Power. “This initiative highlights Sol Donum’s expanding role in strengthening U.S. infrastructure and advancing local energy independence,” said Clift Briscoe, Co-Founder of Sol Donum. “By integrating solar generation, battery storage, and advanced power conversion, we’re helping communities keep essential services operating when the grid goes down.”

Funding for the Buzz Ware improvements included Village American Rescue Plan Act funds, a Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control grant, a Delmarva Power solar-credit payment and support from Energize Delaware. Separate grant funding supported the generators at the other locations.

The gathering places have already been used during localized outages. Buzz Ware opened twice, providing residents with electricity and Wi-Fi, and Candlelight Theatre opened on at least one occasion. The Gild Hall generator was completed more recently.

ArdensReady developed the initiative after residents raised concerns about the lack of community locations available during power outages. Volunteers participated in emergency preparedness training with New Castle County Emergency Management. The facilities are described as community resilience hubs rather than designated evacuation shelters.

ArdensReady’s third annual preparedness day is November 7 at the Buzz, with go-bag talks, Smart911, File of Life, and a live look at the solar and battery monitor.

Sean Curry
Sol Donum
info@soldonum.com
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