Green Energy

Power & Light Co. opened its four newest solar power plants, as part of the utility’s ongoing investments in renewable energy.

“We are committed to advancing affordable clean energy – the right way. We are building some of the lowest-cost universal solar ever in the country, which keeps costs down for our customers,” said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL. “The completion of these newest plants demonstrates that it is possible to be both clean and affordable, bringing numerous economic and environmental benefits to our customers and the communities we serve.”

The following new plants began powering FPL customers:

·      FPL Barefoot Bay Solar Energy Center, Brevard County

·      FPL Blue Cypress Solar Energy Center, Indian River County

·      FPL Loggerhead Solar Energy Center, St. Lucie County

·      FPL Hammock Solar Energy Center, Hendry County

In 2018, FPL completed eight new solar energy centers while keeping its typical customer bill lower than it was more than 10 years ago.

The eight solar plants that entered service in 2018 are projected to generate more than $100 million in total system savings for FPL customers during their operating lifetime — over and above the cost of constructing and operating the plants.

The continued evolution of battery storage technology is beginning to open the door for it to play a role in further improving the economics and operational flexibility of solar plants. Last month, FPL unveiled a new solar-plus-storage system will integrate battery technology with a solar power plant in a way that increases the plant’s overall energy output to the electric grid.

This pairing of solar and storage technology was incorporated into the FPL Citrus Solar Energy Center, a solar power plant built in 2016. The storage capability will not increase the peak output of the plant but is expected to increase the amount of solar energy the plant can deliver to the electric grid over the course of a year by more than half a million kilowatt-hours.

They were defeated in Sacramento each of the past two years. But supporters of a hotly debated plan to expand California’s power grid to other western states aren’t giving up.

Under a new proposal being drafted by Chris Holden, who chairs the state Assembly’s utilities and energy committee, California would organize a regional grid that could eventually cover the entire western United States. Supporters say a regional grid would make it easier for California to meet its climate change goals by tapping into cheap renewable energy sources from other states, like Wyoming wind power or Washington hydropower. California would also be able to sell excess solar power to other states.

The regional grid concept is a priority for Gov. Jerry Brown, who pushed the Legislature to adopt it in 2016 and again in 2017. But opposition from labor unions, community-run electric companies and some environmentalists has stymied the governor. Opponents worry a regional grid would send high-paying solar and wind jobs out of state, raise the cost of electricity for homes and businesses, and cede control of the energy Californians consume to lawmakers in other states, including coal-friendly Utah and Wyoming.

There’s nothing in Holden’s new proposal to mollify the powerful labor unions, at least so far. But Holden’s amended language, which has been circulating in Sacramento for a few weeks, attempts to address concerns related to climate change and state control.

Regional grid advocates also say they’ve moved on from Brown’s original proposal, which was to merge California’s power grid operator with PacifiCorp, a Warren Buffett-owned utility with customers in six states. PacifiCorp operates six coal-fired power plants in Utah and Wyoming, and critics worried California would be forced to buy electricity from those plants, extending their lifetimes and leading to a rise in climate pollution.

Supporters of Brown’s plan say they’re now focused on partnerships with utility companies in Oregon and Washington, where state officials share California’s focus on fighting climate change, as well as Nevada, which is close to getting out of coal.

“We can really create a renewable engine on the West Coast,” said Lauren Navarro, an attorney at the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund.

The problem a regional grid is supposed to help solve is that two of the biggest sources of climate-friendly energy are intermittent: The sun goes down every evening, and the wind doesn’t always blow. But the larger the geographic area covered by a power grid, the more clean energy sources there are that can meet electricity demand at different times of day, at least in theory. A study commissioned by California officials found that a unified power grid covering most of the West could lead to $1.5 billion in savings for Californians by 2030, and a 3 to 4 percent decrease in regional climate pollution.

Partnering with Washington in particular, advocates say, would allow California to tap the state’s abundance of low-carbon hydropower dams, which have lots of unused capacity.

Hydropower distributed by the Bonneville Power Administration, a federal agency in the Pacific Northwest, would be the “holy grail” of a regional grid, said Don Furman, director of Fix the Grid, an advocacy group backed by environmentalists and energy companies.

“Bonneville is losing revenues because of the penetration of wind. They are hungry to participate in the California market,” said V. John White, executive director of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies, a Sacramento-based trade group.

New England’s controversial “Northern Pass” energy project is on hold. The nearly 200-mile-long transmission line would have brought in hydropower from Canada, but recently got blocked by regulators in New Hampshire.

Meanwhile, Connecticut is wrestling with its own clean energy problems: siting solar energy.

And in this case it’s not state regulators – but small towns that are pushing back.

Cathy Osten is a state senator and she’s co-chair of Connecticut’s powerful appropriations committee. She’s also first selectman of a small rural town in eastern Connecticut called Sprague.

And she can tell you that when it comes to siting a 20-megawatt solar project there, the politics are complicated.

“It’s more of a gray discussion than a black and white discussion,” Osten said.

Think Byzantine politics with a modernist, clean-energy edge. And a laundry-list of bureaucratic players.

Like the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. It issued a request for clean energy projects in 2013. From 47 proposals, it chose two — including Sprague.

“We learned about it in the newspaper, actually,” Osten said. But she said the town still didn’t know where, exactly, the project was going — which brings us to our next bureaucratic player: the state siting council.

“Anything that’s of a utility-size is determined by the siting council, it’s not determined by the town,” Osten said. “So our planning and zoning had nothing to do with this project.”

A location was ultimately finalized, with the siting council signing off in 2015.

That raised all sorts of concerns among abutters — the people who own abutting property — that whole “not in my backyard” thing.

“I think that we have to be careful of that too, because we do need green energy,” Osten said. “So I think that there’s a lot more to the discussion than just saying, don’t cut down any trees and don’t use any farmland.”

About 50 miles west, in the town of Simsbury, siting solar on farmland has been a big hangup.

The developer, Deepwater Wind, wants to build a solar project on about 290 acres of space, some of which was farmed. In a December decision, the Siting Council said they can, but many abutters are still holding out.

“I just never expected something like that when I moved up here,” said John Marcktell, during a recent public meeting. He and several other residents — mostly those living adjacent to the project — came before town officials to urge them to appeal the decision.

So, just a few minutes later, the town did appeal.

Eric Wellman is Simsbury’s first selectman. He said he thinks there is a way that the project can be built in town, but said Simsbury appealed because it wants public safety concerns addressed in writing.

“It’s really important to us that there’s a comprehensive soil testing plan. Water testing plan, among other things,” Wellman said. “I would say dropping our appeal is contingent upon us being comfortable that those plans are sufficient.”

Osten said that’s a good idea.

“Talk to the neighbors. Make sure that you have documented any issue they might have with their land right up front,” Osten said. “And that’s something I would have done a lot earlier.”

That’s because in November, construction stalled on the Sprague solar project. Cutbacks to trees made stormwater runoff to nearby properties so bad that the state issued a cease and desist order, stopping work.

Osten said construction has since started back up. And more than four years later, she’s hopeful work on the Sprague solar farm will wrap up next month.

Still, she said siting big solar means more communities might have to put state and regional needs before their own. And, if New England wants to meet its renewable energy goals, projects like these must be built in someone’s backyard.

With the advent of solar renewable energy, we can now harness the free energy produced by the sun and use it as electricity in our homes and businesses.

Every five minutes the sun delivers the total annual energy requirements of humanity on earth for a single year. This means that the equivalent of all the energy used on the planet in a whole year by transport, industry, housing, etc, is produced every five minutes by the sun. Now you can reach out and harness this free energy, with the help of Comet Renewable Energy.

Photovoltaic (PV ) solar panels generate electricity by extracting energy from sunlight and transforming it into usable electric power. This technology has been developed over the last four decades and is widely in use throughout Europe and the developed world for electrical systems and/or hot water.

Despite Ireland’s temperate climate, and contrary to popular belief, solar PV systems have become so advanced, cheap, and efficient that direct sunlight is not needed to provide sufficient electric production. In fact, parts of Ireland have better conditions for solar power generation than some parts of Germany and northern Spain where solar PV is the preferred option for renewable energy production. Up to 80 per cent of the sun’s energy can still be harnessed even in cloudy conditions.

It is commonly acknowledged that the sun will be the world’s largest source of electricity by 2040, ahead of fossil fuels, wind, hydro, and nuclear. Ireland is now realising this potential, and with significant reduction in solar panel cost this form of renewable energy generation is the most cost effective system of producing electricity and reducing or eliminating electricity bills.

Solar PV systems for homes and businesses are already a cost effective solution for many in the UK, the EU, and many other parts of the developed and developing world. A rooftop panel array has a guaranteed 25 year lifespan with little or no maintenance. A battery storage system can be fitted which can make the installation independent from the national grid.

Complete off-grid systems are available for mobile or remote sites. Electric car charge points can be fitted to complete the electrical energy requirement of car owners. Indeed, a simple solar PV power diverter can produce enough hot water for a three-bedroom home, while also providing electricity to household appliances. This means that all your electrical and hot water needs, day or night, can be provided by a cost effective solar photovoltaic system.

As well as being a renewable clean energy, solar PV reduces CO2 emissions while providing electricity and hot water through the sun’s natural energy. Ireland has an obligation to the EU to reduce CO2 emissions by 20 per cent by 2020. This target is not achievable with our present government policies, but with the promotion and utilization of solar PV systems substantial monetary fines will be reduced.

It is an exciting time for Ireland as regards renewable energy. Solar PV is seen as being at the forefront of renewable energy alternatives to damaging pollution caused by depleting fossil fuels. As such, Ireland is an untapped resource for this exciting and widely used renewable energy source. Galway-based company Comet Renewable Energy is at the forefront of this solar PV energy revolution, having worked within the industry in the United States, UK, and EU. The team will be pleased to provide you with a bespoke system for your home or business.