CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) – One food truck on UVA grounds served up it’s lunch Wednesday, April 9, using all renewable energy.

With the help of CVille Solar Project, a student-led group at UVA, Sombreros operated on solar power.

“It’s important to show the community around us how easy it is to apply solar power,” said Nora Wilkerson an undergraduate student with CVille Solar Project.

Gone was the usual hum of a generator outside the Sombreros food truck and in its place was the quiet work of just a few lead-acid batteries charged by the sun.

“The batteries are portable, we can charge our batteries with the solar panels that is what is great about storable energy,” Wilkerson said. “If you can store the power you can take it wherever.”

This is the second time the group has powered Bernardo Martinez’s food truck.

“The first time we did it, it was a little jumpy but now it is very consistent,” said Martinez, the owner of Sombreros. “I think they are doing a great thing on solar power, which I really like.”

Martinez does a lot of the prep and cooking back at his restaurant but needs energy in the truck to put everything together and get his food into the hands of his customers.

“I have a sandwich station, a fridge, the laptop and the printer,” Martinez said.

For around an hour and a half, the students were able to keep Sombreros up and running.

All the while, catching the attention of curious students passing by and proving just how far a little bit of sunshine can go.

“This club is just about bringing awareness to how easy it is to implement renewable energy and how important it is to transition to more renewable energy sources just in general in the future,” said Simran Patel, president of CVille Solar Project.

CVille Solar Project is the same group who powered UVA’s Lighting of the Lawn in the fall.

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