Florida to Build First Solar Powered City in U.S.
The first 100% solar powered city in the U.S. is in the works, and will be powered by the world’s largest photovoltaic plant.
The eco-city, called Babcock Ranch, is a joint venture between a real estate developer, Kitson & Partners, and Florida Power & Light, and will be located near Fort Myers, Florida.
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Babcock Ranch will include almost 20,000 houses and 6 million square feet of mixed retail, office, and light industrial space, and have city-wide wireless internet and electric car charging stations throughout.
The city will be fully powered by solar during the day, and produce an excess of electricity that will be exported to the grid. The CEO of Kitson said the project will serve as a model to other communities and be a “living laboratory for companies, workers and families ready to reap the rewards of innovation.”
Florida Power & Light expects to break ground on the $400 million solar PV plant this year, pending regulatory approval. Construction of Babcock Ranch is slated for the summer of 2010.
The project’s cost is estimated at $2 billion, and is expected to create 20,000 jobs.
Image: markus941 at Flickr under CC License
Hello Florida! Frankly, you are welcome to solar-power World. Imagine if you had a head-start from the mid-seventies, time of the first large fuel crisis?
I am positive that your experience will qualify other large states and countries to this kind of technology. Meanwhile, good luck! If Fritz Schumacher knew about it he would be radiant… just like the sun…
I think it’s a great idea, but certainly ambitious. It sure will take a mess of PV cells to meet such a need. Even to make a single family home 100% solar powered, will almost completely cover an entire roof. That, and a rack of car batteries to store power when the sun isn’t shining.
Still, I admire the vision.
2 Billion??? 20000 jobs??? For how long? Will it take 20,000 people to wipe clean all those solar panels once a week? Or is it 5000 to build the things, 5000 to wipe, 5000 to stare at gauges, and 5000 to assist widows and housewives with their questions. I’m all for solar panels and have actually lived off the grid, using only 2 panels; unlike most of you. But this is a ridiculous example of exaggerating benefits and using fear of “global warming” to justify yet another bloated govern-mental attempt to control us all and spend our nation to death.
I completely agree with you Brian. This project looks eco-friendly in its packaging but building 20,000 single family house is goes against so many parts of sustainability. We should be looking to improve the existing conditions in our cities instead of creating new ones. This project would be much more effective if tagged on to an existing city or town in Florida. Also I want to know what they are planning for these houses. If they are going to be using standard building methods and materials this will still be a huge attack on the environment. It doesn’t seem like they are planning on incorporating sustainably designed homes within this project, but just tacking on things that sound eco-friendly.
I’m from Fort Myers and for the past few years have been up at school. But when I come home I always see that same damn roads under construction. Can we please finish all the road work we “need” before handing the key to the city over to the EPA and PETA?
I’ve been exploring alternative energy for a very short time in the grand scheme of things, and this looks like a really great development. As other posters have mentioned, it’ll be far better when we retrofit existing housing stock, but to generate publicity and make a big leap forward in terms of reminding homeowners that now’s the time to start taking responsibility for our own energy needs (and reducing those needs)… This sounds like a great idea to me!
Sweet I live next to that city! Oh wait I live in Oklahoma, damn those government bastards!
Go American Industry!
[...] Florida to Build First Solar Powered City in U.S. [...]
Great idea, make use of all that FL sunshine. I think the approach is good in that for solar power to really start to ever make big headway in the U.S., it will require ambitious projects on big scales to make a big splash.
As someone mentioned above the cost is more than reasonable … creating that many homes and jobs for that price is great.