As summer looms, with it comes the threat of natural disaster from tornadoes—like those that recently struck in Moore, Okla., last month, hurricanes and other extreme weather events. With that in mind NRG Energy has developed a new disaster relief truck and trailer, Power2Serve, with photovoltaics and generators to travel to disaster-struck regions and help with immediate needs.

The vehicle is a 42-foot, former stock car racer transport vehicle with a 26-foot trailer. It features a 10 kilowatt solar PV array—enough to power two to three homes—as well as two diesel generators, one 10 kilowatt, the other 20 kilowatts. With 100 charging stations for cell phones, cameras, small tools and power equipment, Wi-Fi and satellite service, tablet computers to access email and the internet, and TVs the truck and trailer combination provides emergency services—including shelter—to people affected by disasters. The truck also can deploy an enclosed 50 foot by 20 foot pavilion with heating and cooling for disaster victims.

“The Power2Serve vehicle is a way for NRG to be more involved in our communities as part of future disaster relief efforts—harnessing our collective skills and knowledge in a creative, hands-on way to respond quickly to help affected people,” said Fran Sullivan, NRG’s senior vice president of plant operations. “It’s an opportunity for us to bring electricity to impacted residents in times of urgent need, to do whatever we can to make their lives a little better.”

The new truck joins a growing fleet of disaster recovery vehicles and trailers with solar, which are able to deploy and provide emergency power even when access to diesel and other fuels is cut off, or made more expensive by the disaster. For instance, during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy last year, The Solar Sandy Project, a partnership of Solar One, SolarCity, Consolidated Solar, and NYSERDA partnered to launch multiple PV-powered generators to aid in recovery. Likewise GreenPeace’s Rolling Sunlight truck was aiding in the recovery efforts there.

The truck will be manned by as many as 400 NRG employee volunteers (not all at once, but it has sleeping accommodations for up to seven volunteers), throughout the summer and fall. They will serve as its Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and “ServeCrew” community volunteers. “CERT members receive training in search and rescue operations, medical response, disaster psychology, shelter operations, and basic fire suppression,” NRG said. “ServeCrew members are qualified to set up power charging stations, assist residents in filling out necessary forms and applications, and provide IT support.”

The trailer and truck, as well as three support vehicles will respond to disasters as directed by federal and state authorities.