someoneyouknow
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Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Florence swamped North and South Carolina, thousands of residents who get power from coal-fired utilities remain without electricity.
Yet solar installations, which provide less than 5 percent of North Carolina's energy, were up and running the day after the storm, according to electricity news outlet GTM. And while half of Duke Energy's customers were without power at some point, according to CleanTechnica, the utility's solar farms sustained no damage.
Traditional energy providers have fared less well. A dam breach at the L.V. Sutton Power Station, a retired coal-fired power plant near Wilmington, North Carolina, has sent coal ash flowing into a nearby river. Another plant near Goldsboro has three flooded ash basins, according to the Associated Press, while in South Carolina, floodwaters are reportedly threatening pits that contain ash, an industrial waste from burning coal.
The vast majority of people who lose power in storms, particularly hurricanes, are not from the power generator but from downed power lines. However, for those who have solar panels installed at their residence or business, and assuming the panels aren't damaged, they can be up and running in less than a day, compared to the weeks it may take to get power from main stream providers (msp).
In Puerto Rico, although Maria took out the power grid, locations that had their own solar installations, including a farm and a community center, were able to stay open.
"Solar is resilient -- there are a ton of cases where, as long as the roof stays attached, the solar array stays attached as well. That's the real takeaway," he [Chris Burgess, projects director at the Rocky Mountain Institute] said. Given its elevation, a rooftop solar installation has a better chance of survival than power lines or transformers closer to the ground.
In Florida, Sunrun has had success with systems that include solar panels and a storage battery, Grinstead said. A battery acts much like a generator and can keep critical appliances running during a power outage.
Sunrun, which is the largest leased solar panel provider in South Carolina, reported no effects from Florence in that state. (The company doesn't operate in North Carolina.) NC Solar Now, the largest solar provider in North Carolina, also reported no issues during Florence. Yes Solar Solutions, which has close to 3,000 megawatts of solar installed in North Carolina, received several inquiries during the storm from customers wanting to install solar systems, GTM reported. Only six of the company's 800 customers reported problems after Florence.
"A hurricane can be either really good news for wind generation or too much of a good thing," said Wade Schauer, a research director at Wood Mackenzie Power and Renewables. North Carolina's only wind farm, the Amazon facility near Elizabeth, powered through the storm, even generating electricity through part of it.
"The wind farm experienced no damage and no noticeable water or drainage issues," said Paul Copleman, a spokesperson for Avangrid Renewables, which owns and runs the farm. The result would have been different if Florence had hit the farm directly, he noted -- the facility is in the northeastern part of the state, and Florence turned south along the coast.
A U.S. wind farm experienced a hurricane directly last year, when Hurricane Harvey shut down several wind facilities on the Gulf Coast of Texas. But they powered back up within days, The Wall Street Journal reported, while several refineries shut down and coal-fired power plants flooded.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-florence-crippled-electricity-and-coal-solar-and-wind-were-back-the-next-day/
Yet solar installations, which provide less than 5 percent of North Carolina's energy, were up and running the day after the storm, according to electricity news outlet GTM. And while half of Duke Energy's customers were without power at some point, according to CleanTechnica, the utility's solar farms sustained no damage.
Traditional energy providers have fared less well. A dam breach at the L.V. Sutton Power Station, a retired coal-fired power plant near Wilmington, North Carolina, has sent coal ash flowing into a nearby river. Another plant near Goldsboro has three flooded ash basins, according to the Associated Press, while in South Carolina, floodwaters are reportedly threatening pits that contain ash, an industrial waste from burning coal.
The vast majority of people who lose power in storms, particularly hurricanes, are not from the power generator but from downed power lines. However, for those who have solar panels installed at their residence or business, and assuming the panels aren't damaged, they can be up and running in less than a day, compared to the weeks it may take to get power from main stream providers (msp).
In Puerto Rico, although Maria took out the power grid, locations that had their own solar installations, including a farm and a community center, were able to stay open.
"Solar is resilient -- there are a ton of cases where, as long as the roof stays attached, the solar array stays attached as well. That's the real takeaway," he [Chris Burgess, projects director at the Rocky Mountain Institute] said. Given its elevation, a rooftop solar installation has a better chance of survival than power lines or transformers closer to the ground.
In Florida, Sunrun has had success with systems that include solar panels and a storage battery, Grinstead said. A battery acts much like a generator and can keep critical appliances running during a power outage.
Sunrun, which is the largest leased solar panel provider in South Carolina, reported no effects from Florence in that state. (The company doesn't operate in North Carolina.) NC Solar Now, the largest solar provider in North Carolina, also reported no issues during Florence. Yes Solar Solutions, which has close to 3,000 megawatts of solar installed in North Carolina, received several inquiries during the storm from customers wanting to install solar systems, GTM reported. Only six of the company's 800 customers reported problems after Florence.
"A hurricane can be either really good news for wind generation or too much of a good thing," said Wade Schauer, a research director at Wood Mackenzie Power and Renewables. North Carolina's only wind farm, the Amazon facility near Elizabeth, powered through the storm, even generating electricity through part of it.
"The wind farm experienced no damage and no noticeable water or drainage issues," said Paul Copleman, a spokesperson for Avangrid Renewables, which owns and runs the farm. The result would have been different if Florence had hit the farm directly, he noted -- the facility is in the northeastern part of the state, and Florence turned south along the coast.
A U.S. wind farm experienced a hurricane directly last year, when Hurricane Harvey shut down several wind facilities on the Gulf Coast of Texas. But they powered back up within days, The Wall Street Journal reported, while several refineries shut down and coal-fired power plants flooded.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-florence-crippled-electricity-and-coal-solar-and-wind-were-back-the-next-day/
