Lake Placid Solar | Hurricane Milton damage

The Lake Placid Solar Power Plant is located in Highlands County, Fla., and suffered damage during Hurricane Milton. The facility opened in December 2019 and is 45 megawatts, which is enough to power more than 12,000 homes at peak production. 

https://news.duke-energy.com/file/dji-20241010111433-0006-w?action=


Looks like tornado damage, but can’t find a news story about it ~cr.

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Bigus Macus
October 13, 2024 2:17 pm

Suffered damage? It looks like a complete loss.

Reply to  Bigus Macus
October 13, 2024 3:14 pm

Will the metal scavengers swoop in and scope up all the mangled metal? I’d go for some of the copper wiring.

Scissor
Reply to  Harold Pierce
October 13, 2024 3:25 pm

Sure, but it’s mostly hazardous waste now.

Bryan A
Reply to  Scissor
October 13, 2024 10:16 pm

It sure does look like a tornado pathed through the farm … so now instead of powering 12,000 homes mid day when no-one is home needing energy it’s down to 10,000 homes from 10 to 2 when no-one is at home needing energy.
Solar is one of the worst sources of generation as it can’t produce power when people need it. Solar is really only good for recharging batteries and running calculators.

stevejones
Reply to  Bryan A
October 14, 2024 12:53 pm

That’s strange, because my 12kW solar array completely powered my home, with no need for the grid at all, apart from 3kWh on one or two days, for the past six months, in the U.K. Solar is FAR better than wind power, much cheaper per kWh, much more reliable, and far easier to hide, just plant a tall hedge around the solar farm. I’ve just found out that I’ve been driving past a huge solar farm every day, on the way to work, and had never seen it, because it was behind a normal looking hedge.
Solar can and does produce power when people need it – but I agree that it’s not sufficient on its own. On a badly overcast day, my panels only give out a twentieth, or even less, of what they give out on a sunny day.
The idea that this article proves anything is ridiculous – lots of things are destroyed by hurricanes, it’s no surprise if a solar farm was completely destroyed by one. Are we now supposed to believe that solar panels aren’t incredible technology, and extremely useful for power generation? I know that ‘climate change’ is a scam, and we are in a carbon dioxide famine, and should be burning as much ‘fossil’ fuel as we can.

Ralph
Reply to  stevejones
October 15, 2024 2:31 am

Who’s going to volunteer to clean up the toxic chemicals left by the solar panels?

rbabcock
Reply to  stevejones
October 15, 2024 5:49 am

I’ve always had a hard time believing solar is worth the cost in the far northern latitudes. The winter months are basically worthless. Even here in North Carolina at 35N November to January only gives a few hours a day where the Sun is above 30 deg. The only saving grace is the number of sunny days we have gives some power.

However in areas where the political forces are decimating reliable sources, I guess something is better than nothing.

Sparta Nova 4
Reply to  stevejones
October 15, 2024 7:37 am

How does the survivability of a solar farm compare to any of the standard steam turbine generator plants?

Hail? Wind? Rain? pick.

Curious George
Reply to  Bigus Macus
October 13, 2024 3:31 pm

Watch the whole video. A complete loss – locally.

Jeff Alberts
Reply to  Bigus Macus
October 13, 2024 5:28 pm

“Now it’s gahbage!”

-Oscar Madison

Reply to  Bigus Macus
October 13, 2024 7:46 pm

It looks like Russian weather interference to create big rain falls and strong winds with Helena and Milton to mess up the Election, because Putin said he supports Harris, with her infectious laugh. Just kidding

Reply to  wilpost
October 13, 2024 7:56 pm

with her infectious laugh”

More like a disgusting degenerate disease, showing completely vacuous imbecility.

Its enough to make a grown person puke every time the Kamal starts a speech.

Reply to  bnice2000
October 13, 2024 9:35 pm

I’m sure she laughed at all the deaths in North Carolina. She can’t help herself.

Reply to  bnice2000
October 14, 2024 5:16 am

The good thing about KH, is that her obvious policy direction is nowhere at all, In short the less she does the more likely she will win and remain.
The worst politicians are usually ones who get inspired to Do Stuff.

Editor
Reply to  Bigus Macus
October 13, 2024 9:11 pm

Suffered damage? It looks like an improvement.

mleskovarsocalrrcom
October 13, 2024 2:20 pm

Looks like at least 1/3 of the panels were taken out. What’s the back up plan? Pun intended.
When’s the last time a power plant was damaged so extensively from weather?

Reply to  mleskovarsocalrrcom
October 13, 2024 2:35 pm

Bend over.

Reply to  Gunga Din
October 13, 2024 3:31 pm

“What’s the back up plan?”
“Bend over.”
Just in case his “pun” wasn’t clear to the taxpayers and rate payers, we’ll all end up getting it in the “bun”.

Reply to  Gunga Din
October 13, 2024 9:36 pm

We got it!!

Bill S
October 13, 2024 2:23 pm

 45 megawatts, which is enough to power more than 12,000 homes at peak production”

How many homes does it power at night?

starzmom
Reply to  Bill S
October 13, 2024 3:01 pm

How many on a cloudy or rainy day?

Reply to  Bill S
October 13, 2024 3:26 pm

It can still power 12,000 homes at night.***

***If everyone turns off every light, appliance, AC, and the charger to their EV. However, if a single toddler wants a 1W nightlight, then it can only power ZERO homes.

joe-Dallas
Reply to  pillageidiot
October 13, 2024 3:47 pm

A big wig with CISO – the california grid was promoting how efficient car batteries were for the solar grid. You can charge you car during the day when solar electric generation is at its peak, then use your car battery when the sun goes down.

Using your car battery is nothing more than an admission that solar and wind aint going to work.

Also of note is the wide discrepancy in solar production in january vs july . In CA january averaged 30mw while july averaged 170-175mw

Reply to  joe-Dallas
October 13, 2024 3:58 pm

There is another word for it: theft.

StephenP
Reply to  joe-Dallas
October 14, 2024 1:03 am

If you’ve used the car battery at night to keep the grid going, will it have enough charge to get you to work next day?
It looks to be a scam to get you to provide the backup batteries for the grid.
The ultimate problem is how do you recharge the batteries once they go flat, particularly when there is a long dunkelflaute?

Art Slartibartfast
Reply to  joe-Dallas
October 14, 2024 1:18 am

Wow, milliwatts, it is worse than we thought! 🙂

Bob Rogers
Reply to  joe-Dallas
October 14, 2024 4:35 am

That could only work if there were charging stations at places of employment. And who would want to give up charging cycles on their car battery to support the grid anyway?

Trying to Play Nice
Reply to  joe-Dallas
October 14, 2024 8:18 am

I prefer to drive my car when I’m awake during the day and charge it at night when I’m sleeping. I guess with Elon’s magic autonomous vehicles, that’s not really an issue any more.

Reply to  pillageidiot
October 14, 2024 11:13 am

A hundred years ago my grandfather had the daily task of turning off/down the power plant at night, for a little town in South Dakota.

(at least that is what I was told; it would have been coal)

Reply to  Bill S
October 13, 2024 7:13 pm

Well, there’s that . . . and there’s also this:
the solar PV panels in the above video all appear to fixed orientation (i.e., not capable of tracking the sun). Therefore, “peak production” is probably only +/- one hour centered on local noon. So, assuming the farm can produce usable output power whenever the sun is, say 20 degrees above the horizon and factoring in the sine/cosine losses for varying Sun altitude and azimuth relative to the set angle of the PV panels, the number of homes powered at average daily production drops to only about one-quarter of the peak, or only about 3,000 homes.

This is what Google’s AI bot synthesized on the subject (for what it’s worth):
“A fixed solar array’s average power output over daylight is significantly lower than its peak output, typically only reaching around 20-30% of the peak power during the most intense sunlight hours, due to factors like changing sun angles throughout the day, cloud cover, and panel efficiency limitations; essentially, the average power output represents the total energy produced over the daylight hours divided by the number of daylight hours, while peak output represents the maximum power produced during the sunniest moment of the day.”

Engineers and accountants talk about average daily power production . . . only advertisers and salesmen talk about peak power production.

Bill S
Reply to  ToldYouSo
October 15, 2024 7:58 pm

The obvious point is that regardless of how the solar panels are arranged, it is dark at night, every night, and the production is 0. Average daily power production is equally meaningless when the somewhere along the line the instantaneous power production is 0, and those 12,000 homes go dark.

Yes, I realize that you are counting on batteries to store excess power. The system cost of batteries plus panels to match the reliability of traditional fossil fuel sources of power is 3x to 5x per kwh using the increase in electricity cost from other countries as a guide.

In addition, no fossil fuel generating plants cannot produce power because of the hurricane. Lines needed to replaced, a process of a week or so. This solar farm will not be providing electricity for quite a while. The greater our reliance on wind and solar, the greater the probability that power failure for weeks or months reaches 100%, at 3 to 5 times the cost.

Reply to  Bill S
October 19, 2024 7:43 am

“Yes, I realize that you are counting on batteries to store excess power.”

Actually, no. Neither I or the Google AI bot ever mentioned or implied anything regarding battery storage of solar energy produced during daylight hours.

To reiterate, here is the relevant phrase from the Google AI response (again, for what it’s worth):
“. . . essentially, the average power output represents the total energy produced over the daylight hours divided by the number of daylight hours . . .”
(my bold emphasis added this time for your benefit)

May Contain Traces of Seafood
Reply to  Bill S
October 13, 2024 9:19 pm

I have to love that “homes” is quoted like it is some SI unit.

What is the exchange ratio of Homes to Street Lamps? Homes to Corner Store? Homes to light manufacturing company? Glass doored supermarket freezer?

stevejones
Reply to  Bill S
October 14, 2024 12:54 pm

10kWh of LiFePo4 batteries is about £1,500 or less at cost, in bulk. Houses could easily have 10kWh of storage (I have 15kWh to go with my 12kW solar array) to use solar power at night.

Loren Wilson
Reply to  stevejones
October 14, 2024 7:27 pm

That would power my AC for an hour or two in the late afternoon and evening. Then the batteries would all be flat. Some nights, the low is 80°F with high humidity so the AC is needed all night.

Neal Adair
October 13, 2024 2:29 pm

Looks like a great background video for a commercial for renewable solar power.

“The ultimate in renewable power supply – Renew Regularly”

October 13, 2024 2:42 pm

Looks like what you might expect if a twister moved through, there were reports of lots of tornadoes in the rain bands.

October 13, 2024 2:50 pm

The facility opened in December 2019 and is was 45 megawatts, which is was enough to power more than 12,000 homes at peak production.

ntesdorf
October 13, 2024 2:55 pm

So it looks not so placid at Lake Placid. I wonder how this will affect insurance premiums for other Solar installations. Time makes these boondoggles look more and more useless.

October 13, 2024 3:06 pm

“If you place the solar panels and wind turbines far away from the mobile homes occupied by red-necks, then they will certainly be safe from all tornadoes!”

— Some journalist writing the NEXT alarmist article for the Seattle Times

Reply to  pillageidiot
October 13, 2024 3:39 pm

😎
How many “green-neck” trailer parks are under a pinwheel?
“If you think your trailer park is protected by a pinwheel, you might be a green-neck.”

John Hultquist
October 13, 2024 3:50 pm
Nik
October 13, 2024 4:56 pm

Where are the owners going to recycle this renewable debris?

Editor
October 13, 2024 5:52 pm

Here’s a thermal IR look at the installation. The temperature shows how well things are working.

https://news.duke-energy.com/file/dji-20241010111630-0007-t

Jit
Reply to  Ric Werme
October 14, 2024 12:26 am

Thanks – an interesting pic. Curious that some areas are still up and running with a tornado track running through the middle of them. It’s also a reference for the photovoltaic heat island effect.

October 13, 2024 5:53 pm

Not to worry comrades, now we are able to propagandise about how many new jobs the renewables industry will create to build a nice new solar farm.

October 13, 2024 6:29 pm

I suggest building solar panels and wind turbines in caves and tunnels so they can be protected from the weather.

Jeff Alberts
Reply to  Tommy2b
October 13, 2024 6:33 pm

Then bring in diesel generators, to setup industrial floodlights and fans.

October 13, 2024 6:53 pm

Oooops! . . . should have located a wind farm there, not a solar farm.

/sarc

October 13, 2024 7:59 pm

Wondering where all the glass shards and toxic elements ended up. !

Talk about widespread POLLUTION and LITTER.

Reply to  bnice2000
October 13, 2024 9:37 pm

But you must ban plastic straws. /sarc

Bryan A
Reply to  Jim Masterson
October 13, 2024 10:19 pm

Instead of giving everyone Plastic Straws wrapped in paper, they give everyone Paper Straws wrapped in Plastic.

observa
October 13, 2024 8:20 pm

Thank goodness no turbine blades were injured in the making of this video.

Reply to  observa
October 13, 2024 9:39 pm

Luckily I wasn’t drinking when I read your comment. My PC is safe and dry.

Bryan A
Reply to  observa
October 13, 2024 10:23 pm

Yeah, they would then have PETWiT to deal with
People for the
Ethical
Treatment of
Wind
Turbines

0perator
October 13, 2024 9:34 pm

Well, it’s a haz-mat site now. Won’t be good for anything, especially farming or grazing. You know, the things actually benefiting humans.

Phillip Bratby
October 13, 2024 11:38 pm

Lots of green jobs clearing up the mess and recycling it.

Reply to  Phillip Bratby
October 15, 2024 3:34 am

Biden’s “Climate Corps” ought to be able to handle this.

Westfieldmike
October 14, 2024 1:02 am

Is this the security of renewables? Wind turbines also catch alight and collapse in strong winds. When will the insanity end?

Reply to  Westfieldmike
October 15, 2024 3:40 am

I think it is slowly ending now. It’s just that most politicians have not realized it yet.

Net Zero is a failure. It’s not going to work. Society cannot flourish using windmills and solar. Western nations will figure this out eventually, after a lot of unnecessary economic pain.

October 14, 2024 4:22 am

“Looks like tornado damage, but can’t find a news story about it”

Gee, I wonder why??? 🙂

Reply to  Joseph Zorzin
October 15, 2024 4:09 am

Self-Censorship by omission.

The lying, Leftwing Media is the most dangerous organization in the Western World. They continuously lie to the public to promote their political agenda.

The Leftwing political agenda is basically a plan to destroy Western Society as we know it. They can only accomplish this goal by lying to the People, and that’s what they do.

The Public cannot govern themselves properly based on believing leftwing lies. That’s why the Western world has the disfunctional leftwing governments we have now. The Public has been fooled into thinking it is a good idea to vote for leftwing fools.

Well, now we see what electing leftwing fools gets us

October 14, 2024 5:14 am

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
      Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
      He chortled in his joy.

I don’t hate much, but whenever Nature topples a turbine or pummels a panel. I am overjoyed.

October 14, 2024 5:14 am

Looks like solar power causes tornados.

Sparta Nova 4
Reply to  stuinflag
October 15, 2024 7:44 am

Is it possible the PV heat island caused an updraft resulting in a local low pressure that drew in the tornado?

Just a passing thought.

October 14, 2024 6:10 am

The only news you will find is about how well Babcock Ranch survived Ian. I am not finding any news about how well it weathered Milton but suspect it may have incurred some damage given the lack of news about how well it survived. Anyone know anything about it?

October 14, 2024 11:24 am

If anyone is to report on it:

*How is it insured?
*Do the rates go up?
*Does the ‘Public Utility Commission’ (regulatory guys) allow rate increases as a result of increasing insurance costs?
*Should the planners that bought into this crap, and pushed this crap, have to walk around in public with a big red ‘A’ on their forehead … and why not?

observa
October 14, 2024 5:04 pm

Look on the Green side. This field of beams and mixed landfill will now be an excellent burial site for cut up wind turbine blades when they’re similarly surplus to requirements.