A planned new city south of the Tampa Bay area and east of Fort Myers in Florida, USA will be powered by the world’s largest solar panel based solar farm.
The solar farm for the 17,000-acre city of Babcock Ranch will generate more power than is consumed by the 19,500 homes. While Babcock Ranch will have to rely on traditional power sources when the sun isn’t shining, the net effect through power generation when it is means that it will be a solar powered city.
Babcock Ranch’s photovoltaic facility will cover 400 acres of land and grid connect solar power systems will be installed on numerous commercial buildings throughout the city. Florida Power and Light’s USD $300 million Next Generation Solar Energy Center at Babcock Ranch will have an an initial generating capacity of 75 megawatts.
Residents of the city who generate some of their own power will benefit from additional savings as they feed power back into the grid for distribution.
The city also will also integrate a “smart grid”; allowing residents and businesses to monitor and control their energy consumption. As Florida is often battered by storms and hurricanes, the two-way communications capability of the smart grid will allow for rapid recovery in the wake of a storm. The “self-healing” system equipped with multiple distribution paths will automatically reroute to keep power flowing.
The City of Babcock Ranch is designed to be a center of new green collar jobs in research, development and implementation of renewable energy technologies. Its development is expected to generate 20,000 permanent jobs and thousands of temporary positions for construction
Our professional solar installers in Melbourne will assess and determine your energy needs. We customise a solar panel system in Melbourne to fit the roof size of your property, ensuring you receive the most suitable solar panel system for your Melbourne home, meeting to property’s energy requirements.
