Solar arrays are potentially fragile, vulnerable to storms and even eclipses.
In the tropics, solar arrays must face big storms every so often. A direct hit from a hurricane can be really hard on any solar array.
But with good design, solar arrays can be resilient even in the face of severe weather. It’s really cool if solar power survives even as other infrastructure is knocked offline.
The trick is to design for the severe event, and potentially take precautions as a storm approaches. Hint: this means you shouldn’t take the lowest bid for design, materials, and construction.
This fall, Hurricane Ian provided a demonstration of just how well a solar power system can stand up to even a category 3-4 storm. As Ryan Foelske reports, the solar town of Babcock Ranch, Florida survived Ian with relatively minor damage [1]. In fact, the power never went out. They were the only place in southern Florida with electrical power for days.
Babcock resident Foelske summarized some of the critical elements in their resilience:
- Newly built houses designed to survive this kind of storm.
- Underground wiring
- Battery backup
And, of course,, having their own 150 MW solar array—designed to survive a hurricane—meant that their power would keep coming, regardless of damage to supply chains and infrastructure.
Obviously, everyone can’t live in a really expensive new homes in Florida. But Babcock Ranch does demonstrate that solar power clearly is resilient. More resilient that the conventional power grid.
So knock off the nonsense about “unreliable” solar energy already.
- Ryan Foelske, Solar Community Slammed By Hurricane Ian: “Our Lights Stayed On”, in Clean Technica, October 9, 2022. https://cleantechnica.com/2022/10/09/solar-community-slammed-by-hurricane-ian-our-lights-stayed-on/
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