Solar power issue

Welp somebody's gotta replace/repair them. Sounds like hobs to me. (My son in laws worked in a solar plant in southwest Ga)

We have 1 at the USMC base here about 1/2 or 1/4 that size.

I am sure they have insurance for such events. That is some damage.

Pretty sure it was BP

The solar fields are owned by private or investor base companies that sell the power to Power Companies.

The ones here in north Florida are owned by FPL and Duke Energy according the signs on the gates.
They are destroying thousands of acres of good pasture land and crop land putting those ridiculous things up.
I’m sure us taxpayers will be footing most of that hail damage through more subsidies to those energy companies.

That is not the case here in Ga. 

Most of the ones in Ga are built by independent corporations. They go into an area with the right info structure and secure land and zoning. They then put into the lottery that Ga Power has for that year. If they win, they move forward, if not they usually try again the next go round. They have to be close to a major line and grid that can take the additional power. Mitchell Co has/had a major line running through coming from a decommissioned coal plant. A lot of the companies that build them, sell them once they are on line. The first one here about 15 years ago has sold at least 3 times.

Couple of our guys went to the one GA power bought or owns near Donaldsonville. To hear them say it if a dick job exist that's it. They have to be on call I think one weekend a month. Sounds horrible right? They can do everything from a lap top at home!!!
My two boys worked on building the one near Blakely. Said it was hard work but enjoyable. Had some good guys running the job which makes all the difference in the world.

The cleanup , aftermath or the new rig?

Pretty impressive really......Congrats to Governor Kemp and the state of Georgia.



"Some of the fiscal reasons that contribute to that great climate are discussed in this month’s pages. One element discussed in our energy story is the reliability of Georgia’s grid and power supply. The successful launch of the new Plant Vogtle reactor has been a massive influence on company decisions to expand or locate business operations in the state. Georgia is also ahead of the pack in renewable energy efforts, which have contributed to a cottage industry revolving around sustainable options, with more expansion potential reflecting federal policy."

"Georgia has a particularly healthy solar industry, ranking third behind Florida and North Carolina in the seven-state region in 2022, according to a 2023 Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) report. Georgia Power and Oglethorpe Power are both in the top 10 solar providers in the Southeast. Walton EMC in Northeast Georgia has the highest solar-to-customer ratio in the region, in part thanks to a successful collaboration with Meta to use solar to power its Newton County data center."

"In Northwest Georgia, Qcells is building a new 3.3-gigawatt plant near Cartersville and adding another 2.1 gigawatts of capacity to its plant in Dalton, citing domestic manufacturing incentives in its reasons for expansion, which is estimated to bring 2,500 jobs. The $2.5 billion investment is expected to bring its total solar production capacity in Georgia to 8.4 gigawatts by 2024 and increase its total number of employees to more than 4,000."

"Tennessee company Silicon Ranch has invested $3 billion in solar farms in Georgia, creating 6,500 jobs and 1,950 MWac (megawatt altering current), the power equivalent of 300,000 homes annually."

"Founded in Atlanta in 2007, Radiance Solar operates solar farms throughout Georgia, including Ashton, Woodland, Camilla, Arlington and Montezuma and was ranked the No. 1 commercial and industrial (C&I) installer in 2022 by Solar Power World."

"There are policy proposals to make Georgia solar even more robust. Net metering, a program that credits solar customers for their excess energy, was capped at 5,000 and has been full since 2021. Solar advocates are pushing to expand the program, which can dramatically lower bills and increase the incentive for rooftop solar. James Marlow, founder of Radiance and president of Southface, recently noted the potential for increasing rooftop solar on manufacturing and distribution centers."

www.georgiatrend.com/2023/12/24/solar-industry-shining-in-georgia/

I know this makes it easy to hate on Solar or wind for that matter. The thing is weather happens and no energy source is completely immune to it. Just a few years ago a tornado hit Browns Ferry Nuclear plant destroying its low voltage switch yard and a couple of their transmission towers nearby. Nobody sees solar as a replacement but rather as a supplement. If it made no sense then utilities, co Ops, and municipalities big and small would not fool with it. And the military surely wouldn't. Most military bases have a solar field now. Of "alternative" energy I will admit Solar is my least favorite. But it's gonna be part of the mix until we find something else. Fusion may just be the thing that puts them all including me out of business. If they can ever get it to put out more than you have to put in to sustain the reaction. There are claims they are getting closer. I suppose we will see.

“Doing away with farmland”. Let that sink in. 🤔