July 31, 2018Christian Roselund

Today utility Florida Power and Light (FPL) announced the beginning of construction on four new solar projects spread across the state of Florida, which will total around 450 MW-DC of capacity when complete. Black and Veatch is building these projects as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor, and expects to have the plants put online some time in 2019.

• FPL Interstate Solar Energy Center, St. Lucie County
• FPL Miami-Dade Solar Energy Center, Miami-Dade County
• FPL Pioneer Trail Solar Energy Center, Volusia County
• FPL Sunshine Gateway Solar Energy Center, Columbia County

These follow four other projects of similar capacities which Blattner began work on last year.

The four new projects will each be around 112 MW-DC in capacity, and mounted on fixed-tilt racking, which FPL says offers a cost advantage. The utility notes that for projects of this size a variety of module suppliers are used, however Jinko Solar will supply at least some of the modules used, including some from its new Jacksonville PV module factory which is currently under construction.

Jinko Solar signed the world’s largest PV module supply agreement with FPL parent company NextEra in March, at 2.75 GW.

The plants will have a 1.5 DC-to-AC ratio, giving each one a 74.5 MW-AC rating. The company has not mentioned any plans to integrate battery storage at this time, but notes that it owns the nation’s largest solar-plus-storage project, and cites the benefits of solar and storage for improving the economics and operational flexibility of these projects.

This has also been cited by NextEra, which in its latest quarterly results call estimated that the including energy storage is adding an average of only 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour to the solar and wind projects which it is building.

FPL currently owns or is buying power from 14 utility-scale solar projects. When this 298 MW-AC of solar is complete the utility will be at 1.233 GW-AC of installed solar capacity, and the utility expects solar to make up nearly 5{0b7da518931e2dc7f5435818fa9adcc81ac764ac1dff918ce2cdfc05099e9974} of its electricity generation by 2020. This is part of a boom of solar in Florida, which is currently the second-largest state solar market after California.

The company is doing this while reducing its already low customer rates. FPL notes that these projects are all being built at no net cost to its customers, and company spokesman Stephen Heiman estimates that FPL customers will save $40 million over the life of the projects.

Hanergy Holding Group, a multinational clean energy company, reports that its subsidiary, Donghan New Energy Automotive Technology Co., Ltd., signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Bluecar, a subsidiary of France’s Bollore Group. Under the aegis of the strategic agreement, the two parties will discuss the possibilities of the collaboration in designing, manufacturing and producing the solar electric vehicles. In the future, through the signing of the following four special agreements, the cooperation between the two parties might be further expanded and deepened:

First, according to their core technologies and resources, both the parties will cooperate in the designing, development and production of solar vehicles. While, Hanergy mobile energy strategy has been fully integrated, Bluecar has mature automotive design, R&D and mass production capabilities. The cooperation between the two parties intends to fully guarantee the life and the safety of solar vehicles.

Second, innovative cooperation in the development of solar power and solid-state lithium battery energy storage, utilizing solar energy as a source of power for lithium batteries.

Third, carry out cooperative business of new energy vehicles in the field of intelligent travel and public transportation. In 2008, Bluecar proposed the concept of Internet-sharing cars and successfully operated on a global scale, with extensive experience in smart travel and public transportation. Hanergy has already landed many transportation projects in ecological cities such as intelligent bus stations in mainland China.

Fourth, cooperate in the development and construction of R&D centers, production bases and other projects in areas of agreements including Asia, Africa and the Americas. The two sides will establish a win-win strategic partnership for sustainable development and believe that through the upcoming strategic cooperation, they can export higher business value and create more environmental benefits.

For more driving details and illumination, visit Hanergy and Bluecar

DANVILLE – A new petition will be before the Danville Area Planning and Zoning Commission this week after some additional proposed changes have been made to the Danville Zoning Ordinance pertaining to solar and wind energy regulations.

The city has requested solar and wind energy systems be added to district use regulations in the zoning ordinance.

After additional resident and commission discussion after the city council sent the zoning petition back for further discussion, there were “only a couple small parts that changed,” said Danville Planning and and Urban Services Manager Chris Milliken.

For the section on solar energy, there are more clarifications on setbacks from any residential district. There must be a buffer or separation of 100 feet, Milliken said, which can include a type of screening such as landscape or fences.

A section also was added to address the quality of the solar panels, and meeting state and federal requirements in recycling or disposing of them if abandoned and no longer used.

Regarding wind energy systems, there is clarification to the height and how they’re measured, Milliken said. Language was added to refine the definition of small systems to ensure size is capped and setback distance from residences also is outlined.

At a recent city council meeting, commission members were appointed to serve on the newly reduced seven-member body.

Six returning commissioners are: Tracy Taylor, Katasha Butler, Ted Vacketta Jr, Adam Brown, Dale Carlton and Pete Goodwin. A new commissioner is Troy Savalick who works at Watchfire Signs.

The zoning commission also continues to talk about other possible zoning ordinance revisions and projects, such as downtown uses and parking, and agriculture zoning regulations.

Coming Up

The Danville Area Planning and Zoning Commission meets at 5:15 p.m. Thursday at the Robert E. Jones Municipal Building, 17 W. Main St.

ROCKVILLE, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jul 31, 2018–Standard Solar, Inc., a leading solar energy company specializing in the development and financing of solar electric systems nationwide, recently celebrated the completion of a 9.8 megawatt solar project for City of Gallup (Gallup), New Mexico. Standard Solar provided financing for the 28,896 panel single-axis tracker array. The solar farm is expected to generate more than 20 million kilowatt-hours of power annually saving the city approximately $785,000 and providing nearly 10{0b7da518931e2dc7f5435818fa9adcc81ac764ac1dff918ce2cdfc05099e9974} of the city’s energy use. Click to Tweet

The solar farm, constructed on approximately 31 acres of city-owned land south of Interstate Highway 40, will generate enough electricity to power 2,500 homes and offset production of 3,500,000 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

“We’re excited that our unique ability to finance this project played a role in bringing it to its completion,” said Scott Wiater, President & CEO, Standard Solar. “City officials at all levels were committed to making this project a success, and it was an honor for us to be involved.”

On July 17, Wiater, along with CTO of Mangan Renewables H.D. Boesch, the City of Gallup Mayor Jackie McKinney, City Electric Director Richard Matzke and City Manager Maryann Ustick, participated in the ribbon cutting event for the new array.

“This array will have a huge impact on the City of Gallup and its future,” said Matzke. “When the opportunity to protect our environment and save our citizens money presented itself, we were thrilled to take advantage. We appreciate everyone involved in the project for helping us bring it to fruition.”

Standard Solar financed the project and will own and operate the array. Mangan Renewables, a division of Mangan Inc., developed the project in partnership with Wiser Capital and their proprietary underwriting platform.

Construction is complete, and the array is operating and producing power.

The project provided local employment opportunities for 58 jobs during the construction phase and two ongoing positions.